


Madhouse Blues (Through the Looking Glass, Vol. 2)

by Vendetta543



Series: Through the Looking Glass - A Spider-Woman/Spider-Man Noir Crossover Series [2]
Category: Marvel Noir, Spider-Gwen (Comics), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2019-11-12 22:17:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 218,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18019490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vendetta543/pseuds/Vendetta543
Summary: 2017, one year since they won their fights. Gwen and Peter had dealt with possessed lawyers, superpowered terrorists and anything else New York could throw at them. Things were different now. Heroes were an accepted part of life and new villains came along with that. Didn't matter; they'd still be the ones left standing. (Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Gwen crossover)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Huh, that break didn't last long :/ Anyway, due to reader suggestion I made this its own story. This first chapter is mostly exposition due the new status quo of the leads. The next chapters will tone it down.
> 
> As mentioned before this volume will be far lighter compared to the previous one. That's not to say there won't be drama or angst, but it won't feel hopeless or just flat out depressing like the last volume felt like at times. Also on the insistence of readers, Gwen and Noir are still together, which is a mixed blessing now that a lot of the relationship and morality drama has been dealt with.
> 
> Hopefully it's not too much of a turn-off for readers given that vanilla romances tend to be considered boring. Breaking them up now seems more trouble than it's worth.

One year...time sure flied.

Peter's lips curled up in a smile when he saw the edges of New York come to greet him, the noon sun high above their heads. It didn't look any different, least not from where he was sitting. Same buildings, same cars piled on traffic (no wonder Gwen swung everywhere) and the same blaring car horns and cursing drivers that thought they owned the road. It felt...odd, coming back after so long. He almost felt like a stranger coming back from war.

Well, he came back from France, which was worse in a lot of ways.

He stopped and pulled out his phone,  _'At the place already,'_  the text said. It was logged ten minutes ago.

He was late.

Peter drove through the familiar intersections on his new bike. He had to leave Moon Knight's behind when he had to smuggle himself into South America cause the pilot wasn't willing to bring it along. A shame, but it was inevitable. At least Domino gave him the new one before he went back. He really didn't fancy hitchiking his way back to the city.

Gwen was waiting there for him. Peter stopped the bike and just looked at her. They'd kept up on phone calls and messages throughout the year, though there were a few weeks when he was out of contact and she'd yelled when he re-established communication. Explaining that he'd been held in a Hand torture dungeon before he could stage a prison break really didn't calm her nerves any.

Peter stopped off the bike and her face lit up in a bright grin when she saw him. She looked different now - her hair was longer, reaching down to a few inches below her neck, with the edges dyed pink instead of blue. Her attire consisted of a white off the shoulder shirt that left her right shoulder exposed with a spider symbol at the front, dark shorts and an equally dark pair of boots. On her arms he caught a few bracelets along with a choker on her neck.

He looked different too; not enough to be unrecognizable, but still different. He'd dyed his hair black (helped keep people from seeing the resemblance) and slicked his hair back and let a small stubble grow and swapped out the spraypainted and ragged clothes for a cleaner looking jacket, jeans and short boots. Now he bared at least a passing resemblance to his long gone brother, though if anyone asked he'd never admit to anything.

Gwen spoke first, "Hey there, stranger," she said, still grinning.

"Hey..." Peter couldn't stop himself from smiling back, "...I'm back."

"Yeah, you kept me waiting." She kissed him. Peter leaned into the gesture and was thankful they were in New York. No one cared enough to give them a second glance. It continued for a few seconds tlll she pulled back, "Been waiting to do that for a year." She chuckled softly, "Come on, let's go get something to eat. My treat."

Gwen led him to a small diner not too far away and they sat at a corner booth out of hearing range. Mick's had the best fries in the city, or at least that was what she said. He was just glad he could actually pronounce the food he was eating now. Wade Wilson's mercenary group might have been oddly successful despite their leader's insanity, but they didn't spend nearly enough on good rations. Good thing he didn't need much food to keep going.

"So, how was it being the wandering hero?" Gwen asked with a smirk.

"Traffic was monstrous and I could never find a good plane." He laughed under his breath, "I'm more curious about you. Didn't get a chance to ask you about it before, but apparently you stopped a nuclear apocalypse?"

"Huh, oh yeah." She rolled her eyes like he'd just asked if she got a new haircut, "So me and the rest of the Avengers stopped Hydra and Cap finally offed Red Skull. His daughter - who calls herself  _Sin_ , if you can believe it - went nutso and decided that throwing up every nuclear superweapon HYDRA collected all at once would be the best final fuck you. I stopped her and now she's in solitary like Evil Cindy is."

"Surprised the Spooks are still around to do that." They'd officially come out about their involvement in the Incident and that monster Kasady. There were riots, of course, claims about government culpability and Shield was taken down...well, that was how the story went. In truth they just handed over all the scientists responsible, disseminated their members and it was business as usual except they didn't have a flying base anymore. At least that was what Cindy told him.

"Yeah..." A tinge of bitterness seeped into Gwen's tone, "Least we're still here, right?"

"Yeah, thank you for my continued existence." He would've hated stopping armageddon with Ketch, Damon and Satanna only to get blown up anyway, "Didn't you also stop that giant monster?" Something those Skrull bastards left behind as a last resort. Between them, those Asgardians landing in Cleveland, the Intiative Program and that 'terrigen mist' thing that popped up in New York, he was beginning to think this place was cursed.

"Yeah, and Wasp thought it'd be a great idea to make me bigger with Dyne particles to even the playing field. I am  _so_ lucky I didn't fall on my ass and break the Chrysler when that thing clocked me. I'm still getting 'Attack of the 500 foot Spider-Woman' jokes."

"Could be worse. I've seen some of the things they wrote about a few other people." The Initiative Program was Stars-and-Stripes' idea of a country-wide Superhero movement. It had...mixed results. Most of the volunteers were well-meaning, but a few were just in it for the idea that they could do whatever the hell they wanted with government backing. And even those who just wanted to help people had about a 50/50 shot of being competent or like Patillio; and as expected people latched onto the latter and never stopped biting.

At least Lana 'graduated' near the top of her group. That was nice.

"But seriously, enough about me. Tell me about you! I called you when you were in France but you never told me anything. Gimme the details!"

_"Chat, we've got to catch the Akuma!"_

_"Sure thing, Ladybug! Hey, Spidey, you gotta hurry up!"_

_"...Kill me."_

"I...don't want to talk about it." He dug into his milkshake desperately. He'd have nightmares about bubbles, musical perfumes and mimes for the next few years, "I could tell you about the Hand base I found in Japan?"

"Yeah, no thanks." Gwen snorted, "I still can't believe they're still around after you dealt with Murderock. You'd think after they lost their pitchforked boss they'd just cut their losses."

"Greed and want are powerful motivators, Gwen." He took a bite out of the burger, "It's part of the reason why I came back here, actually. I've gotten some rumors that the Fingers are converging here. No idea what they want, but I can't let this opportunity slip."

"Aww, and here I thought you just wanted to see me again."

"Well, that too." It was cheesy, but he'd gotten used to it.

They spent the next hour just talking about things they already (mostly) knew. Gwen was in college now - which definitely put a damper on her heroing - and she planned to take a criminology degree. The rest of her friends were there too - Mary was on the journalist track, Grant was on a business course while Brant...well, he wasn't sure and he got the feeling he didn't want to know.

"So...does this mean you're here for good?"

"You mean am I leaving again?" She nodded slowly, "I...I'd rather not. I've looked around enough. New York's insane, but it's insanity I've gotten used to." That and it would've been nice to not be paranoid that Wilson would finally go insane or running into psychics who tried to make him eat his own gun, "Just gotta brace myself for the Bugle's new expose."

She held his hand over the table, "I wouldn't worry about it. Jameson usually just podcasts everything instead of going to the papers. I listen to it sometimes."

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"Cause it's funny. You shoulda heard him when he said that I eat pigeons cause some spiders eat birds and  _obviously_  me chasing down pet pigeons for a friend means I'm taking them down and nefariously eating them." She rolled her eyes, "Oh, he's gonna have a heart attack when he realizes you're here."

"Him and a few others." He'd texted everyone he was coming back. Lana and Cindy mentioned they were busy with school and work and they'd meet him as soon as they could while Summers had a scoop she had to deal with. He didn't text any of the Defenders aside from Moon Knight, who'd given him the tip in the first place. He wasn't even sure if Castle and Felicia were back in town; or if they ever would be.

"So...what are your plans for now?"

"Not sure. Moon Knight's letting me stay at one of his safehouses for now. Should be good enough till I can find a place for my own." It'd be weird not having Lana there. Her dad (forced her to) transfer to a fancy private all girls school and one of the rules was that she had to stay at the dorm. She'd called a few nights in just complaining about everything from the uniform (that she had to fight a Supervillain in at one point, much to her annoyance) to some of her 'bitchy, entitled classmates'. She couldn't even get Dog with her since pets weren't allowed.

Oh, and her dad won the mayoral election, which didn't help her mood at all. When your daughter helped kill a demon in Times Square people tended to forget she wasn't supposed to do that with a group of vigilantes.

"Oh...well, I was just gonna say that my place is pretty close by and MJ said she'd totally be willing to find a new place if I wanted someone else to move in..."

Peter laughed, "What, didn't join a sorority? Isn't that how the college experience is supposed to go?"

"Yeah, and then I kiss any sort of privacy goodbye," Gwen waved a hand through the air, "The apartment's close enough to campus that I can swing over there." He practically saw the lightbulb over her head, "Hey, why don't you go to ESU, too? I'm sure Cindy can swing you a fake ID and it'd be pretty useful. Besides, you need a taste of the normal college life."

"Ha, yeah, sure." He smiled half-sarcastically, "I doubt that'll go over well, Gwen."

"Can't hurt to try, right?" She squeezed his hand, "What've you got to lose?"

"A lot of things, but...I'll consider it. First I gotta deal with the rest of the Hand." He still had no idea why they'd go here, of all places. This was the last place they should've gone even after he decimated their Japan bases.

"I'll hold you to that," she said, "So, about my earlier offer..."

"I'll think about that too. Don't wanna put Mary out, after all." At least she was doing well. From what he gathered from Gwen, Mary and the monster were at an impasse and reluctantly worked out some kind of deal. It could let loose provided it kept to the rules they established. He would've preferred if that thing burned with its murderer partner, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Think about it then." Her next smile turned mischievous, "Still, you wanna check it out? MJ's got classes now."

"...Sure." He was gonna be sore for a while.

* * *

"How's it goin', freak?"

Cindy groaned and nearly crushed her cup of coffee, "What do you want, Masters?" She didn't turn around. She already knew who it was - Richard Masters, the stereotypical tough guy cop cliche with a chip on his shoulder proportionate to the size of his ego. Ever since she got put into the NYPD Special Cases Branch - or, as it was 'affectionately' called, the Freak Beat - the guy had it in for her. It was almost enough to make her miss Woo.

"Nothing. Just curious what you're doing."

"Getting coffee, as you can plainly see." She had no idea what the fuck the guy's problem with her was apart from the fact that he was a damn racist. She barely even said two words to the guy before he was up in her face about 'not needing your fancy freak ass in here' and how 'she was probably working with the rest of those freaks'.

He really liked to throw the F word around.

"Huh, didn't think your kind ate people food."

"Look, could you hurry this up? I gotta finish up the Matthews case and actually do my job, unlike certain other people."

"Hey, I do my work; and I don't need to shoot shit outta my fingers to do it." She pressed her lips into a thin line thankfully hidden by her scarf. Did she just have a sign over her head saying 'unload all your racist comments on me!' or something? "Whatcha got to hide, huh? Rest of us here ain't coverin' our faces and then you walk in so high and mighty and-"

"Would you just fuck off?"

"Ooh, the freak got her tongue out!"

The people around them desperately tried to ignore the exchange. No one really liked Masters - he had a habit of stepping into people's toes and pissing people off besides - but he wasn't dirty and he got results. It would've been so much simpler if he was corrupt; then she could punch him in the face and not feel bad about it. As it was, the best thing she could do was file a report which went nowhere cause it wasn't like she could threaten to quit.

She really shouldn't have accepted this gig.

"Listen, asshole, I've been playing nice so far. You don't want me here? Talk to Captain America and Chief Watanabe, I'm  _sure_ they'd love to talk about why my freakishness is such a big deal and that you can deal with the Powered Crimes on your own."

That shut him up. Masters' mouth pressed into a thin line and he fumed all the way back to his table. It was a shame he was such an asshole - the guy's record was top notch and he wasn't bad to look at. It was also the other reason they couldn't just fire him. He had a good record and she was a hero (on loan), so  _of course_ she could deal with his bullshit for the greater good.

She  _really_  regretted taking this job.

Sighing, Cindy trudged her way back to her office and sat down on the desk. The Matthews case folder was wide open in front of her. It was typical stuff - a rash of disappearances with seemingly no connection to one another...except for the fact that all the victims showed reactions to the Terrigen Mist. Her first thought was Hate Crime, but that was a hard sell. Most crimes of those types tended to be public and to share a message. Here it was kept to the downlow as best as the bastard could.

The door to her room opened and Jean stepped in, "Got some more cases." She dropped another folder on top of her already overflowing desk.

Cindy groaned and slammed her head on top of the desk. She knew why she accepted the job - Powered and Costumed crimes were increasing and the police needed all the help they could get - but going from attacking H.Y.D.R.A bases to dealing with asshole coworkers and being dumped cases about anyone so much as wearing a domino mask was not how she thought this would go.

Sure, there were times like the Matthews case where they needed her help, but a lot of the time they were just dunces who thought that putting on a costume suddenly gave them a better shot than a balaclava and a gun. Some analysts in big chairs blamed the Initiative Program.  _They're goading criminals to put on costumes because they believe they need it to catch up_ , or something. Considering the Initiative was critical to stopping those damn Skrulls she was content to ignore the tinfoil hats.

"Any of those actually worth anything?" Cindy asked, voice muffled by the wood.

"Bodega Bandit started his own gang of Banditos." Cindy looked up and glared at the older woman, "What? I'm just telling you what I read." Jean shrugged.

"I know..." Cindy massaged her temples and let out a slow breath. She felt silly, dressed up in full costume - albeit modified to look more sleek and less stand-out - at a desk and writing reports like this was a 9 to 5 job. It also didn't help that most of the officers didn't know what do with her. Sure, none of them harassed her like Masters did, but that didn't mean they were here friends.

They seemed...intimidated, if that was the right word. She was a big time Avenger and they liked her protecting them from the Supervills and terrorists, but not so much being at the break room where they got their coffee. Only Jean and a few others weren't weird about it, and that was probably cause the ginger haired detective had a vigilante gig on the side.

Speaking of coffee, that cup was still untouched. She really needed to get a different mask.

"I need help here..." Cindy muttered. There were too many cases, and even with webswinging and her spin-sense (new name ftw) she barely got any sleep and she'd already had to cancel at least five different dates. One poor guy even rescheduled twice and she felt like a complete ass when she had to stand him up a third time, "Or at least a secretary. These reports are worse than Crossbones."

"I'll take your word on that." Jean smirked, "Actually, I've got a new...partner for you, courtesy of your ex-employers." Cindy raised a brow. Someone from S.H.I.E.L.D? Well, if it wasn't ex-Agent Hill then she'd take anyone, "I'll send her your way when she gets here."

"Sure, thanks." Cindy waved the older woman goodbye and checked her messages. A text from Lana asking if she was free at any point in the week - nope, not the way she was going - and one from Pete about being back in town. She smiled. The younger Superhero - Initiative Graduate and all - had gotten closer to her during her training, though it was rough at first. Apparently Lana thought she and Gwen would be similar.

She sent Peter a quick text to welcome him back to town along with a promise to meet up soon. She'd definitely felt his absence in the past year, though less so than some of the others. Work kept her too busy to think too much about it and she knew he could take care of himself. No need for her to hover over his shoulder; he had Gwen for that.

The door opened again. Cindy looked up and her polite smile was replaced with a very confused blink at the new arrival. She expected Daisy or Kate or, hell, even Ex-Agent Hill. She most definitely didn't think she'd see Felicia Hardy walk into her office without a single hint of shame.

She'd heard a few months ago that she cut a deal with S.H.I.E.L.D: in exchange for a few favors and some others things she wasn't privy to (damn clearance levels), Felicia Hardy a.k.a the Black Cat would be granted immunity from all her past crimes. She was even getting back into the music game. Apparently the idea of a popstar who moonlighted as a thief and vigilante alongside Punisher and Spider-Man appealed to a surprisingly wide crowd.

Considering there was a Punisher tsum tsum doll being sold a few blocks away, she could believe it.

"So...you're my new partner?" Cindy raised a brow skeptically.

"Technically I'm a consultant," Felicia smirked, arms crossed and her white designer jacket and leather(?!) pants sticking out from the gray walls, "But considering our 'work' experiences, I'm sure I'll be doing more than sitting on a desk answering questions."

"Fine then. Welcome to my office, Mr. Lecter."

Feliica blinked, "Don't you mean Ms. Starling? She was the-"

"You dimension is weird, shut up." Cindy scanned through the files as Felicia sat across from her. As expected most of the new files were wannabe Supervills trying to make a name for themselves and, sure enough, Bodega Bandit actually did start an honest to God gang by claiming he had experience and seniority in fighting Spider-Woman. It was like New York was a beacon for these morons.

"I thought you'd have a bigger office, all things considered," Felicia said idly.

"Not in the budget," Cindy said without looking up from the papers, "Least the windows are one way so no one can peek in." She also checked for security cameras and recording devices on the walls and floor. So far she came up clean and her spin-sense would warn her if something was up.

"I get the feeling that there's some distance between you and your new coworkers." Felicia gestured to the window. A few employees milled about as usual, though a few occasionally peeked at the blank window with undecipherable looks.

"I'm used to it." Least she wasn't literally alone. She could deal with a few odd looks and Masters' annoying mug.

"I'll admit, when I accepted this deal this wasn't what I expected." Cindy rolled her eyes. Yeah, she could join the club there, "I don't think the officers appreciate me being here either."

"Yeah, well, Inspector Zenigata didn't like Lupin either."

"...Do I even have to tell you how much was wrong in what you just said?"

"You could, but then I'd web your mouth shut." Cindy smiled cheekily, "Anyway, I've compiled the most important things we gotta worry about. Right now it's the Matthews case." She turned the folder around and handed it to her, "Bunch of kidnapped Gifted. No familial relationships or anything aside from them all being exposed to the Terrigen Mist."

"Oh, that. Good thing I wasn't in New York at the time."

It might've sounded odd to say, but the Mist wasn't the start of a new age as people thought it was. Just about all the people who showed an actual reaction to the stuff got oh so great powers like smelling like a skunk 24/7 or being able to stretch their hair maybe five inches from their face. There were a few who got lucky - she was pretty sure that Ms. Marvel gal from New Jersey was one of them - but for the most part it was more an inconvenience than a benefit.

"So any theories?" Felicia said after she finished scanning through the file.

"Aren't you supposed to be the consultant, Ms. Hardy?" Cindy smirked.

"And you're the experienced Superhero," Felicia smirked back. It was somewhat odd, being friendly with someone who was (is?) a career thief, but she was used to it. Least she wasn't a murderer or a Nazi, "Well, if you want my theory then, assuming these incidents are all tied together, I'd have to assume it's either a serial killer or human trafficking. It fits the M.O of looking for a specific population group."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too..." Cindy frowned. It was grim, but New York was bad enough in some places for it, "But what do you mean 'assuming it's connected'?"

"Surely you realized that the location is far too large." She turned to the map and circled it with her manicured finger, "It'd be one thing if it was localized to an area like Hell's Kitchen or Harlem, the families live all over the city, come from multiple income levels and the last known locations are spread out too."

"I know that. Still, I doubt it's a coincidence that all dozen of people who got kidnapped just happened to be people who reaction to the Terrigen Mist." They still had no idea where that damn thing came from. Or maybe some people somewhere did and they were keeping mum; wouldn't have surprised her, "There've been a lot of incidents ever since people...changed."

"Hate crime. I've experienced some of it myself." Felicia shrugged lightly, "Still, if it was Hate Crime wouldn't there be at least one that was public? A stoning, some burning crosses, a beat up Gifted in the streets. These people just disappeared off the face of the earth from what I can tell."

"Yeah..." Cindy rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was good, but chasing after someone with no clues was freaking impossible, "I'm guessing that's why you're here."

"You know Spider was always better at the Detective game than I was." Felicia hummed. She probably didn't even know he was back in town, "Still, I suppose we could look around. I know some of these places - spent some time there when I had to sing in the streets to survive."

"You gonna show me your street tough friends?" Cindy smiled slightly.

"Yes, so maybe you should change your attire. Big name Superheroes tend to make them antsy." It still surprised her that people called her that. Her, the woman who spent ten years trapped in a bunker while the other person who got bitten had adventures with the Avengers and Fantastic Four. She hoped Ezekiel was rolling in his grave.

"Fine, just gimme a minute." Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"Sure. Oh, and I expect my fee when we leave."

"Cool with-" Cindy stopped, "Wait, what?"

"What do you expect? I'm a consultant, not a volunteer." Felicia smiled. Cindy didn't smile back, "3000 dollars upfront. Cash, preferably. Doesn't leave a trail."

...She changed her mind. Cindy hated her.

* * *

Somebody poked Lana's shoulder with a pen and she was not amused.

"What?" she snapped.

Anya smirked and pulled her pen back. She was lucky Lana didn't think shoving it up her nose was worth it, "You've been staring into space for like 30 minutes now."

"So what? We're not in class, I can do what I want." Lana waved her off and turned back to the computer. They had a thousand word report on the Pelopponesian War due tomorrow, cause apparently their teacher hated them. She was worse than Ms. Hassan.

It was also the reason she couldn't go out to meet Pete. Damn preppy school with its stupid high grade requirements. She'd been tempted to flunk out on purpose just to get back to Midtown, but she knew her dad would just pump money to keep his new 'perfect' daughter in - better for his reputation if she was in this silver spoon factory. As much as she hated the idea of staying here, she hated more the idea more that she was here cause of daddy dearest's money instead of her brain.

At least she wasn't alone.

Anya Corazon. She wanted to be called Araña but the same assholes who kept calling her Bombshell titled her Spider-Girl and the name stuck. She'd been put off when she first found out she was her roommate - mostly cause she figured Pete's (not) sister was fucking with her somehow - but Anya had repeatedly assured her that it was just a coincidence. Teresa wasn't even in the city and hadn't been for months now.

And hell, it was better than the alternative. There were a few actually nice students around, but most of these assholes had silver spoons fucking welded to their mouths. A few tried to play nice at first, asked questions about what it was like to be a hero, but when she made it clear that, no, she wasn't going to get them a selfie from Spider-Woman or something equally dumb the fangs came out.

That and it was nice to have someone who knew the freak business. Anya wasn't open with her identity like Lana was (so far only her dad knew about it), but it was nice to rant to someone who got how frustrating it was having to choose between saving that person in need or getting to class on time case the teacher didn't think 'I saved someone from being raped!' was a decent excuse.

Oh and Lana's mom was dating her dad, so they may or may not be sisters in law in the future, but she didn't like to think about that. Her family tree was fucked enough as it was.

"Done." Anya kicked the chair back and stretched her arms above her head. If there was one nice thing she could say about this place, it was that the dorms definitely didn't skimp on the cash. It was wide, spacious and (somehow) comfy. Anya was a decent roommate too, keeping her messes on her side of the room and never taking any of her shit without asking. It was a pleasant surprise.

Didn't change the fact that she was stuck here.

Lana groaned, "Hey, lemme copy your paper for a bit."

"What? No way."

"Come on, you owe me!"

Anya looked at her in disbelief, "For what?"

"For...uh." She, she had her there, "Alright, fine, you don't owe me but I really gotta finish this up."

"Why, got a date with MVP?" Anya grinned.

"And deprive you of your crush? You wish." Lana snorted. She liked the guy, even if he was Captain America Junior in all but name, but he was too...nice. Too clean cut and too proper; like one of those all American good boys you take home to meet the family you'd see on those ads. It actually kinda creeped her out somewhat. She thought those kinds of guys died in the 50's.

"You know he's giving you all the signs."

"Sure he is." Lana rolled her eyes, "Now seriously, gimme the paper. I'll pay you back later."

"Better idea: why don't I help you so neither of us get in trouble for cheating and plagiarizing?"

Lana frowned and looked at the clock. It was 8 pm now, and curfew was 9. She had special permission to be outside later because she was an Initiative Graduate, but that really only cut it if there was an emergency.

She wasn't gonna get to see Pete today.

"Fine..."

With Anya's help they finished a little under half an hour after 9. They both printed out their works and Lana crashed on her bed with an annoyed breath. Pete was probably off having a good old time with Spider-Gwen right about now. She was tempted to claim an Initiative emergency and bolt out of here, but she didn't want to push her luck. Last thing she wanted was daddy dearest throwing some dollars 'for my daughter's behavior'. She still had her pride, damn it.

She checked her messages. Cin was busy (no surprise there), Norah was looking for a scoop (so about two days AFK if she was lucky) while her mom was on a date (she didn't want to think about that). There were a few others she read mostly halfheartedly - Kamala gushing about heroes, Hart bragging that she got an interview with an Initiative Graduate she couldn't remember and so on and so forth.

She stopped when she caught a missed call from Gabe a few hours ago. She tapped the call back button and waited, "Hey, Gabe." Anya turned her head and gave her a cheesy double thumbs up. Lana flipped her off in response, "You called?"

"Oh, yeah." He was out of breath, "Nevermind, I got it."

"Got what? What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing much." Yeah, like she believed that. It wasn't that long ago when she caught the guy sneaking out of a gang hideout after nabbing some incriminating USBs. She had no clue why he was trying the vigilante gig too cause it sure wasn't because of the fame. No costume and he was happiest when no one realized he'd been there at all.

"Like I believe that, Reyes. Now come on, spill.

"A-Alright. Well, I nearly got caught earlier - I know, I know - and then someone saved me. I...maybe you'll want to hear it. I think."

As soon as the name was out of his mouth she sat bolt upright. This was  _not_ happening.

* * *

He was right; he ended up sore.

It didn't hurt. It was more that he was out of practice than because of anything else. He'd get used to it again, "You alright, Pete?" Gwen asked, content. She was lying down at the bed with her head on his lap and a smile on her face. They'd put their clothes back on- mostly. He managed to put on his pants while she'd nabbed his shirt for herself. There was only a couple of inches of difference between them in size, but it was loose enough to cover her well.

"Yeah, I'm good." He rubbed her shoulders and smiled in turn. They spent the past few hours just chatting and watching television (no news). She talked about her classes, her favorite and least favorite teachers, the students who rubbed her wrong (apparently Sally Avril was top of the list) and whined about how hard it was to manage studying and completing all her requirements.

"Good..." Gwen adjusted her place and curled in on herself a bit more, "...I missed you."

"Me too."

"I wish we could stay like this forever." She breathed out softly, "Can't believe I gotta go back to Psyche280 tomorrow." She talked about her annoyance with the class in great detail. Apparently the teacher, a tenured professor with decades of work, decided analyzing the psyche profiles of the Avengers and a few other select people was a good idea.

Normally Gwen wouldn't have minded, but the 'analysis' left much to be desired.

"Could you believe she said Captain America was motivated by jingoism and entitlement?" Gwen groused, "Oh, and she pulls up these bullshit statistics about how me and Kate are bought out because 'we so obviously save more victims of the upper middle class demographic than any other kind'. Uh, hello, I help out anyone who needs it!"

"Sounds like she's got a grudge."

"Yeah. I heard a rumor that I accidentally stepped on her car during my Godzilla moment and her insurance didn't cover it, so I actually felt bad. I went up to her as Spider-Woman, apologized and even offered money. This old bat actually laughs in my face and says it's so typical that 'your people' think she'd just accept my apology because I was so rich and famous. Tried to tell her I was trying to stop a fucking kaiju and she just tells me I should've been better cause that was all I was good for. Bitch."

"Why not drop her class?"

"I can't. She's the only one teaching psyche for my year since one teacher's on maternity leave and the other got into an accident. I'll have to wait months to get another sub, and I already spent weeks in that class. I'm not getting a zero for it."

"Really not selling me on this ideal college life, Gwen."

"Oh shut it." She pinched his leg gently, "There are some really good profs. Sit in at one of Professor Warren's chem classes. You'd love the guy." The phone at her desk vibrated. She tapped the screen and frowned, "Shit, I forgot I had to meet Jess. Promised her I'd help her on a case."

"Go. I'll catch you later."

"I'll hold you to that." She kissed him briefly before walking out to the living room, "Come on, Webs, time to go!"

The formless blob quickly finished off the last of its chocolate and jumped to its partner. It was only when she was gone that he realized she'd taken his shirt with him, "Damn it." He opened the closet and was relieved to find one of his old sweaters from before. No idea why she kept it, but he wasn't complaining.

He walked to the living room and sat down on the couch. He didn't get much of a chance to check the place out before considering the circumstances. The place was small and cozy. Bigger than her last place, though that wasn't exactly a hard feat, with two rooms instead of one and a wider kitchen area. Most of the furniture from the couch to the tables were the same ones from before. Gwen mentioned that she and MJ (though mostly Gwen) bought (not rented) the place, mostly for the sake of privacy and convenience.

Gwen wanted him to live here with her...

Shaking his head, Peter made his way to the street and found himself walking down the all too familiar path back to Hell's Kitchen. It was odd. Despite all the terrible memories he had of the place, it was the closest thing to a home he had here.

Speaking of...

His spider-sense blared an all too familiar tun. He walked to the deserted side street and frowned when he saw a man and a woman held up by a group of thugs. The Kitchen was doing better now that 'The Beast's corrupting influence have been purged from its roots' (Moon Knight's words, not his), but things didn't improve overnight. There was decades of rooted evil in this place.

Mugging and a kidnapping all in one. This time they were brazen, doing it out in the open when someone could just walk or drive by. Peter pulled off his mask and the all too familiar feeling - that mixture of fatigue and anger - came back.

It was easy taking down all five of them; especially since only two of them had guns. Peter slammed the last one down on the ground and punched him in the face, "Call the police." He told the couple. They weren't injured, so he didn't feel too bad making demands. Besides, he needed to make sure these two actually went to prison considering he wasn't a part of that Initiative.

"S-Spider-Man!" The guy said, holding his girlfriend behind him protectively, "I...we didn't know you were back."

"Well now you do. Saving the cussing out till after you call the cops, alright? I ain't in the mood for it."

"No, thank you. You really saved us back there."

"Y-Yeah." The girlfriend nodded shakily.

"Sure..."

His spider-sense blared. Peter turned and saw one of the thugs reach out for the gun with his non-broken arm and raise it shakily. Peter almost dodged out of the way when his spider-sense abruptly stopped. A blur of red came from above - a stick of some kind - and hit the wall. It bounced against the wall and hit the would-be shooter right at the side of his head. He was out cold.

"...Guessing that wasn't you two." They shook their heads. Peter walked in front of the knocked out thug and picked up the weapon. A billy club; this was an old piece of equipment, "Hmm..." Judging by the trajectory where it hit the wall it must've come from the opposite building. Someone was looking out for him, "I gotta go. Make sure you both call the police."

He climbed up the building and found no one there, "Being shy now?" He knelt down and looked at the faint imprint of footsteps on the dusty roof. It led straight ahead. He knew it was deliberate, but his spider-sense hadn't said anything so far.

Peter found the figure standing at the edge of a tall building overlooking a large chunk of Hell's Kitchen. Peter landed on (mostly) gracefully and stood up quietly. The guy knew he was there.

"You dropped this." He tossed it lightly over his shoulder. The red-clad man reached out and grabbed it mid-throw easily, "...Don't say much, do you?" He walked closer. Peter wasn't too surprised to see him. Ever since the Initiative the amount of vigilantes in colorful costumes increased to match the new Supervillains. At least some of them had to be competent.

"I didn't think I'd ever want you to hear me speak." Peter stopped. The voice was all too familiar, "How'd you enjoy your homecoming, Peter? Was it exactly like you thought it'd be?" He couldn't see his face, but he knew the bastard was smiling, "It's odd, isn't it? This place holds foul memories for both of us and yet we find ourselves drawn to it. The grime and filth is home for us both, huh?"

He turned around. His entire body sans his jaw was was covered in a dark red, armored material and at his side was the other half of the billy club. He might've mistaken the attire as a normal armored suit if not for the horns atop the mask's forehead.

He was face to face with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

"...Matt." Peter's fists balled up into tight fists and whatever sense of calm he had was replaced with a white hot burning anger. Of course he knew that Matt hadn't died that night at Times Square, but he'd always assumed the Chaste would slit his throat once they got all the information out of him.

His lips curled up in a smirk and he took off his mask. The same face he remembered except for his eyes. Instead of the crimson slits what met his gaze was a pair of dull gray irises that held no trace of the Beast's influence. It didn't do anything to calm him down.

"What, nothing to say?" Matt spread his arms wide, "I was looking forward to this."

He had a lot of things to say - why was he alive, how didn't anyone else kill him yet, what was he doing playing around dressed like the devil - but nothing came. He stepped closer till they were close enough for Peter to reach out and wring his neck and watch the life fade from his cold, unfocused eyes, "You..." He couldn't continue. If he did he couldn't be sure he wouldn't just scream in complete frustration.

So he did the first thing he could think of.

He punched him in the face. Hard.


	2. Love Triangle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so first things first I counted all the votes and this was the result:
> 
> Gwen: 13
> 
> Matt: 13
> 
> Cindy: 6
> 
> Norah: 3
> 
> ...I'm honestly shocked. I knew people shipped the leads, but similar to Bullseye I assumed Matt would take a landslide win. So, we're actually tied between romance (Gwen) or complete and utter chaos and dysfunction (Matt). If you haven't voted before do so now cause I'm gonna have to write that choice next chapter. Either that or we flip a coin.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter's a tad darker than the last. Apologies for that, but I figured it fits given that the drama didn't go away; the leads just have a better handle on it. MJ's segment in particular ended up in a darker direction than I intended. I'll try to tone it down in the upcoming chapters cause. Don't want to get too depressing again.

The impact of the blow made Matt stagger back, though he miraculously managed to keep standing, "Heh...nice." The blind bastard grinned despite the blood that ran down his twisted nose.

Peter punched him again.

This time he did fall, though (sadly) not ever the edge of the roof. Peter almost went for a third strike but something held him back. Here Matt was in front of him without any of his old puppetmaster's gifts. Was it just old habits, his ego getting the better of him that he wouldn't even raise a hand to fight back? A year ago he would've said yes to that thought without a moment's hesitation...

Peter grabbed him by the scruff of his armed costume and tossed him to the nearby wall away from the edge. He'd barely impacted to it back first when Peter struck his stomach with a third blow that made Matt fall on his knees, "...Nice to see you again, Peter." Peter turned away and took a deep breath as Matt stood and fixed his broken nose. He was sorely tempted to break it again, "You held back on that last one a bit."

"I could fix that, if you want." Peter growled.

"Maybe later. I do need my jaw if I want to talk." He wiped the blood from his mouth and took a deep breath, "I suppose you weren't expecting to see me."

"Thought Stick would kill you once they got all they needed."

"So did I." He chucked soflty, "But, they haven't gotten everything they needed from me just yet."

Peter's eyes narrowed, "I doubt you could keep your mouth shut. Never your game to keep quiet."

"Oh, I didn't. I told them everything I knew - what I remembered, at least. Parts of my life are a blur due to the whole demonic possession thing." Peter turned back and gave him a dirty look. Matt just kept grinning, "Like I you, I was certain that Stick would kill me once I spilled my guts - perhaps by literally spilling my guts. Despite his callousness he's not one for torture so I assumed that a quick death was assured."

"What, you're telling me felt merciful? The teacher felt pity for his prodigal student?"

Matt laughed like he'd been told a particularly funny joke. Peter's right hand clenched into a tight fist, "No, not mercy: pragmatism. Stick is many things, but he's not wasteful. You may not be aware of this, but the Chaste has been reduced to near nothing after decades - centuries - of warefare against the Hand. They refuse to profane their teachings by bringing back someone via demonic means or breaking mind. Though, they aren't above a bit of indoctrination themselves when it comes to children."

"Get to the point."

"The point is that even despite your victory the Hand isn't beaten. Far from it, actually. You've taken their main patron and a large chunk of their resources and now, for the first time in millennia, they're cornered; and you know the saying about cornered foxes and jackals. Or Spiders, in this case. Your group sans Moon Knight has abandoned the fight against the Hand and they're lacking bodies to throw into the grinder."

"...You've gotta be kidding." He almost screamed, both in disbelief and utter frustration, "They  _trusted_  you?"

"Trust is a generous word. Like I said, Stick is a pragmatist-"

"Cut the bullshit!" Peter grabbed him by the scruff again and pulled them close till their faces were only inches apart. Peter didn't get a chance to say anything before his other hand pulled out his pistol and pressed it against the underside of the ex-lawyer's jaw, "Everything you did, all the people that suffered because you, and he let you get away with it. I should kill you right now."

"Do it then."

There was no smile, no bravado in the words. Matt's expression was passive and his eyes looked into Peter's without so much as a blink. Peter's fingers inched towards the trigger and, just before he pulled, Matt smiled.

The gunshot rang out. Peter let go of the blind bastard's neck and Matt tapped his left ear, "I think you missed." The bullet impacted the wall next to Matt's head.

"Why?"

"Hm? I already told you-"

"No, that's not it." Peter put the gun back in its holster. No need to be tempted again, "Stick wouldn't have let you have free reign. Not without insurance."

"Know him that well, do you?" He smiled wryly and pulled down the collar of his armored suit. At the edge of his neck he caught a tattoo of a letter he couldn't read. It looked like old Japanese, "This isn't a style choice, by the by. Think of it as a...collar. I so much as a take a step outside of New York, enter anywhere I shouldn't belong or, God forbid, don't check in every hour? I will die slowly and painfully, which you'll no doubt take some well-justified satisfaction in."

Nothing, his spider-sense hadn't rang at all. He wasn't lying.

"Huh...how far are we from the road out of the city?"

"Very funny." He let the collar cover it again, "That and I'm useful in other ways. I was the former Kingpin, and while the law has cracked down on my and the former Mr. Fisk's empire as best they could, a confession from the man himself is just the final condemnation they need. Karen was very quick to assure me that I'll be on a short leash since, officially, I was just Mr. Fisk's lawyer."

"You fought with Cindy's deranged twin and you were possessed by a demon."

"Yes, and if you recall I also fought alongside you in Times Square. The videos still sell for a lot." He smirked slightly, "Karen argued that I was possessed, and considering there's a very dead demon in Times Square it's hard to dispute. Granted I'm certain many more criminals will use the 'I was possessed by a demon' excuse to try and escape taking responsibility. You'd be surprised how often people claim they were mind controlled into cheating on their wives or stealing that expensive purse."

"Huh, so that's it? You don't get to pay for what you've done..."

"We all pay in the end, Peter." His next smile was somber, "If you're worried about me escaping punishment, then don't. I'm going to Hell."

"...So what?"

"I meant I'm slated down there. It's inevitable." He walked past him and stared over the edge of the roof again, blocking his face from view, "The Beast's possession corrupted my soul. The Big Man upstairs isn't very forgiving when it comes to people who accept deals from the devil, you see, and in the eyes of whatever Justice there is I'm Hellbound. I could spend the rest of my life doing every good deed and sacrifice myself for Christ himself and I'd still go to the lowest circle."

Again, his spider-sense was quiet.

"You expect me to feel sorry for you?" Peter sneered.

"Sorry? Oh no. I can take a lot of things, but pity's simply distasteful. Pride is one of my many,  _many_  sins." His smile was back in full force when he turned around, "I just wanted to reassure you that justice is coming, whether it be now or later. I expect Stick and Karen derive at least some pleasure at the idea of me attempting to atone for my past transgressions only to fall into the inferno regardless."

He stepped closer and grabbed the pistol from Peter's holster. Peter grabbed the handle and Matt put the end against his jaw again, "Of course, if you're impatient you can take my life now. Can't do it myself. Suicide's a sin, you see."

"Enough games." Peter pulled the gun back and re-holstered it, "You came out here for a reason." He gestured to the costume.

"You like it? Melvin Potter designed it. I had my doubts at first, but considering he received your approval I assumed he could be trusted." Well, that he couldn't deny. That body armor saved his life more times than he wanted to admit during his year long trip.

"I don't care about your costume. I meant why are you wearing it?"

"You want to see me bare that badly?"

"Sure. It'll let me know where to shoot."

"Hah, you have a sense of humor now!" Peter's right eye twitched, "Well, to answer your question, it's not as if Matt Murdock can exactly run around on rooftops fighting ninjas. I am supposed to sell that I was possessed and without the devil pulling my strings I'm just a helpless blind man. People so easily believe that those with disabilities are helpless and worthy of automatic sympathy."

"I don't see any ninjas around..."

"Fine then, you've caught me." He held up his hands in mock surrender, "I told you all those months ago that when I was younger I'd wanted to try my hand at vigilantism. A foolish thought, and it still is, but it's not as if I have much to live for. A little foolishness is harmless, and if I make a mistake then I die. Either way no one loses anything worth worrying over."

This time it was Peter's turn to laugh. Matt Murdock, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, the Kingpin, the monster who'd causes suffering to hundreds if not thousands...wanted to try his hand at heroism.

He punched him in the face again. He stumbled over the edge and Peter grabbed his neck again before he fell out of sight, "Is this going to be a habit, Peter?" Matt looked up at him cheerfully, still hanging over the edge with his feet barely touching the rooftop. He could let go right now and let the bastard fall. Maybe he died, maybe he broke his spine like Captain Stacy. Either way it would've been satisfying for him.

His phone rang. He and Matt stared at one another in silence for a brief moment before Peter sighed and pulled Matt back and shoved him away roughly, "What's up, Lana?"

"Pete! Murdock's alive!" His (might as well be) sister shouted in a panic, "I'm leaving school now, tell me where you are-"

"I know he's alive. I'm standing in front of him now."

"What?! Where are-"

"It's fine. I dealt with it." This wasn't a conversation to be had over the phone, "Don't worry about me. I'll talk to you tomorrow and explain."

"But-"

"Trust me." He terminated the call and sighed again. He couldn't believe this was happening...though, maybe he should have. It wasn't like he hadn't dealt with worse, "Who else knows about you?"

"Your sister, for one. Stick and Karen I already mentioned, and Moon Knight is aware as well. I'm somewhat surprised he hasn't told you." Peter wasn't. The moon worshiper had a habit of keeping information close to his chest, "I expect Stick and the rest will expect us to cooperate. It's one reason I came to meet you tonight. If Stick sprung it on you I doubt you'd be so open to the idea."

"I ain't open to the idea now." Peter scoffed, "I dunno what game Page and the rest of those wackjobs think they're roping me into, but I ain't playing. You wanna play Superhero? Fine, just stay away from me. And if I hear anything about you going back to how you were I'll personally send you to Hell."

"I hope that's a promise." Matt hummed. Again he was reminded of the bastard smiling just before he pulled the trigger, "I feel like I should warn you that Karen will try her hardest to persuade you and I know from experience that she's got a way with words."

Peter scoffed. Yeah, like anything would convince him to work with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

* * *

"What do you mean you can't do that?! You can't talk back to me!"

Mary Jane took a deep breath and counted to three internally, trying to ignore the red-faced, screaming woman and her brat of a child on the other side of the counter. She wasn't like Gwen - she didn't have people lining up for her endorement or so much merch money that she could probably outbid the Kingpin.

This was fine with her. She grew up middle class and, while she was always hungry for attention on the stage, money really wasn't something she thought about all that much. All she really cared was that she had a roof over her head and enough food to buy her daily dose of fast food and soda.

But of course, money made the world go round and she needed a job to pay for rent. Gwen had insisted on trying to pay for everything, because  _of course_  she did, but MJ didn't have it. Maybe she didn't make as much money, but she wasn't gonna be a leech like her deadbeat of a father. So, she looked around and found a job close by in a local theater stand. It wasn't glamorous, but it'd help pay her part of the bills.

"Let me talk to your manager! Now!"

In hindsight, taking this job when she had a murderous symbiote attached probably wasn't the best idea.

**_'Your boss forgot to turn on the cameras. We can kill her and her little chub ball and no one would ever know,'_** Crimson (calling it 'the symbiote' and 'crazy monster' was getting old) whispered.

_'Shut the hell up...'_  She hated to admit how tempting that sounded.

As expected, the night shift on a local theater wasn't exactly the most...enjoyable. She'd dealt with it - shitty gigs were part in parcel when they first started out - but sometimes she dealt with shit like this, "Ma'am, for the last time, I can't do what you're asking."

In the month she'd spent here she'd dealt with all types. Kids trying to sneak into R rated movies, couples who held up the line by making kissy faces at each other, and assholes who spoiled every movie up on view. You name it, she'd dealt with it. Most of the time they went away after she told them off and sometimes they even apologized, which helped restore her faith in humanity.

And then there were people like this.

"I said I want to speak to your manager!" The older woman said. She was old, probably in her mid 40's at least, with streaks of gray on her brown hair and a thin, bony body that reminded her of that Vulture guy Peter killed. Her kid looked about 12 or 13 and continued screaming and crying, "I want to tell him you mistreated my daughter and me! You are in so much trouble!"

Mary Jane's hands under the counter shook and her fingers turned into claws,  _ **'Tempting now?'**_

_'Shut up or I'm starving myself.'_  She forced herself to smile at the woman, "As I said, I can't-"

"You're so selfish!" The woman interrupted. A flash of her clawing the woman's face off while her brat watched burst into her mind, "All I'm asking is that you give us the movie we want! What's so hard about that?!" Her brat cried again about wanting to see Thawing.

"Well like I told you over and over again,  _it's not showing anymore._  I. can't. change. that," she said the last part slowly.

Big mistake.

"Are you mocking me?" MJ almost rolled her eyes. She reined it in, "You can't talk to me that way! You're just a cashier! And you're so selfish that you won't even help a hardworking mother!" Oh yes, the 'poor single mom excuse'. She'd heard horror stories from Gwen about these when she worked at the Dollar Dog. She had nothing against them - especially since her own mom was a shining example - but anyone who used it as an excuse to be an entitled bitch can go jump on a tentacle.

**_'That can be arranged.'_ **

_'That's it. I'm cooking the burgers extra well done tonight.'_ It always liked things raw.

Crimson growled just as her boss came to her rescue. Mary Jane tuned out the conversation and took her daily allotted 5 minute break. She should've been used to crap like this already, having Crimson in her head made it difficult. She wasn't delusional enough to think that the idea of clawing the woman's face off wasn't hers. Everyone had those thoughts when the hormones kicked in. Of course, the fact that she could  _actually do it_  made her pause.

She pulled out a packet of gum from her packet and chewed in annoyance as soon as she was in the bathroom. She would've tried smoking, but it still tasted like someone took a crap on her tongue,  _ **"We can use your aggression in more productive ways."**_ Crimson jutted out of her shoulder and grinned that damn grin of its (hers?),  ** _"Come on, you know you want to."_**

"Do I have to bring you to Wasp again?"

**_"What? I'm following the terms of our deal. I don't even want to kill that Murderer anymore."_**  Well, she'd definitely give it that. Honestly rooming with Gwen was a terrible fucking idea, but the blonde seemed to think it was the best way to keep an eye on her, at least for a bit. So far it worked out and Crimson hadn't done anything apart from make some insults, which Gwen mostly ignored anyway,  ** _"I'm satisfied with our deal. I stay alive, you gain power. We both win."_**

She spat out the gum without a word and walked out only to almost immediately bump into her manager. Thankfully Crimson had already returned inside; she was not looking forward to explain why she had it on her.

"Oh, hey, Brad." She looked up at the taller man, "What happened to the Miss. Glamorous Single Mom?"

"She told us she'd never come here again." He gave her a sheepish smile and a careless shrug.

"Aww, such a shame." She liked Brad. They didn't hang out after work or anything, but he was a decent boss. Better than the one at the place she last worked at, at least, "I should probably go anyway. My shift's over."

"Oh, yeah..." He scratched the back of his dark hair awkwardly, "Hey...now that we're officially off shift, you wanna go...out or something? Like, get something to eat? I figured you wouldn't wanna watch a movie."

MJ blinked and didn't say anything for a few seconds, "Are you...asking me out on a date?" Was that even allowed? Sure this wasn't exactly Starktech, but rules were rules.

"I mean, only if you're cool with it."

"Oh...well, that's..."

**_'He's harmless. Go for it.'_ **

_'So glad you approve.'_  MJ grit her teeth and took a deep breath, "Sorry, I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, you're my boss and all." That wasn't the reason. She didn't even care about that or the fact that he'd already graduated college and this was his peak.

It was everything else; especially this extra passenger of hers. Again she felt a burst of jealousy for Gwen and Peter. They knew each other's problems and they didn't have to walk on eggshells on each other. What was she supposed to tell Brad - tell anyone, really - when she kissed them and a tongue the size of their fucking face came out? She knew Crimson would do it just to fuck with her.

**_'I would not.'_ **

"Oh...yeah, guess you're right." Brad deflated and MJ felt like an ass, "I'll see ya around, I guess.."

"Sure..."

She went to her usual alley and shifted to her Scarlet Spider costume "Ha..." She looked at her reflection on a nearby car window. She looked silly, wearing the same halloween costume she wore that time they tried to cheer Gwen up. It made her look innocent, like she was just one of the dozens of people who bought into the Hero Craze.

That was the farthest thing from the truth.

**_'You remember where to go?'_ **

"Yeah." They'd put a tracker on a scumbag last night. She overheard some women in the movie theater talking about it a few nights. Typical case - wife beating asshole, petty criminal, somebody no one would miss. She didn't kill most of the time, but she'd done it enough to call herself a killer. Gwen knew. She didn't say anything, but she knew. She didn't judge, at least not too harshly. Having Spider-Man for a boyfriend probably helped with that.

The place was small. MJ raised the window and came inside. The woman was gone now - they'd celebrated her officially leaving her husband a couple of nights ago. Of course, she overheard the bastard making threats soon after when she put the tracker on him. He wasn't going to let her go.

**_'He's not here.'_ **

_'I know.'_ The tracker said he was out in the city. She came here to wait...and find something to change her mind. She did this almost every time. She needed to be sure of what she was doing. Sometimes she found proof that the bastards weren't completely irredeemable. Sometimes she had to stretch it - maybe they went to church every Sunday, maybe they gave a stranded person a lift one time. Anything to show they should just be put in prison or maybe they were harmless enough...and if not, then...

Fuck, she was a serial killer.

**_'You say that like it's a bad thing.'_ **

She was spared from arguing back when she heard the car outside, "Come on, bitch! Quit strugglin'!" He wasn't alone. MJ jumped into the roof and blended into the surface, hiding almost completely unseen in the shadows. She was far too used to this.

What she saw made any and all hesitation melt away. The man carried his bound ex-wife inside as she struggled. Her face was bruised and covered in dried blood while her mouth was gagged, though she still tried to scream and cry through the dirty cloth. He dragged her to the living room table and set her down on top of it, knocking down beer bottles and days old takeout.

"Thought you could get away, huh?!" He brandished a knife inches from her face, "Now I'm gonna make sure you know what happens when you-"

She sliced his arm off. He was stunned silent for a few seconds, just staring at the stump where his hand used to be, and then he  _screamed_. The man stumbled back to the corner in a panic, arm pressed against his chest, while MJ dropped from the roof in front of the woman. Her eyes were wide with fear.

Mary Jane cut the bindings on her arms and legs and pulled down the gag, "He won't hurt you anymore." Her fear was slowly replaced by understanding as MJ pulled her up, "Leave now."

"Th-Thank you." The woman nodded gratefully and stumbled her way out. She'd call the police. Whatever she was about to do she had to do it fast.

"F-Fuck..." The piece of shit cried and squealed. She didn't feel any pity. She'd seen his smile, seen the way he laughed when he had that knife to a defenseless woman's face, "Wh-What do you-"

She grabbed his head and tossed him to the opposite wall. He cried out weakly and and spat out blood, "Sh-Shit..." His crying worsened and snot mixed with the blood, "P-Please, just..." She formed her right arm into a blade. His eyes widened and he found the strength to scramble, "Fuck, please! Please! J-Just take me in! Please" She stalked closer without a word, "I-I won't do it again, I promise! I-"

She stabbed the blade down and he screamed. The symbiotic blade cut through what was between his legs, "I see you out of prison, and you'll  _wish_  I killed you tonight." She pulled the blade black and blood splattered the wall. She heard the sirens already. They could take him to a hospital and fix him up, assuming the pain and shock didn't kill him.

Mary Jane jumped out the window and swung away back to where she usually went, ** _'We should've killed him,'_**  Crimson said, as expected. Mary Jane ignored it, ** _'You always do this. We find scumbags who don't deserve any mercy and you always give them it. You don't take nearly enough.'_**

_'That wasn't mercy.'_

_**'He still has his life.'** _

_'So does Evil Cindy.'_  And Red Skull's daughter and that Jack-o-Lantern bastard. She wouldn't call breathing a blessing for any of them,  _'Besides, it's not like I always leave them alive.'_  That thought came out more bitter than she intended.

This was what she did with her time - hunting down the scumbags who slipped through the cracks ever since the Defenders decided skipping town was the best way to cool off. Sometimes she found them, sometimes Norah helped her. Abusive husbands, rapists, pimps...the 'shitstains of humanity', as Norah once called them. Norah knew what she was doing. She never said anything about it; just called her up every time there was someone who slipped through the cracks the police couldn't or wouldn't get.

She stopped and sat at the edge of the roof of an all too familiar building. On the dimly lit window across from her was Philipp Watson, drunk and sleeping with some prostitute as always. She just watched him. She came here every time she finished one of her nighttime 'excursions'. She didn't know why. Did she want to make herself feel angry, or did she want to convince herself that she wasn't too far gone if she didn't kill that bastard who called himself a father?

His arm was still in a sling. She remembered that all too well - she spotted him stumbling in an alley drunk as always and he got mugged by a couple of young punks. She was there, she could've stopped it. All of them saw her. Her dad thought he was saved - a hero come to his rescue - and the punks looked torn between fighting and running.

She just sat on the wall and watched as they beat him and took his shoes. The punks were confused but they didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Her dad cussed her out, screamed he always knew that the freaks were useless. She just swung away without a word.

Her phone suddenly rang. She looked down at the screen and narrowed her eyes at the emergency message from Gwen. That was something she used only for emergencies,  _'Time to go.'_  She threw one last scathing look at her deadbeat of a father and swung to the texted address.

* * *

Hell's Kitchen hadn't changed at all.

Matt crouched over the edge of the tower and focused. He heard the cries, the screams and pleas for help; enough to make any sane man lose himself. Thankfully he'd lost that a long time ago.

The Beast might have left, but traces of its influence lingered. Even before its possession of him it held a special attachment to the Kitchen. He'd never gotten a straight answer when he asked. It could've been anything from some ritual taking place on the land in eons past to just liking the name.

Either way the effects were all too clear. While the rest of New York slowly but surely clawed its way to progress the Kitchen lingered, a festering, bloated corpse that the city continued to drag. The Beast liked it that way. It fed on the fear and misery of its denizens and amplified any and all sin and vice to those that lived inside. He wondered idly how people like Lana Baumgartner or even he himself would've ended up if they weren't born here.

The cynical, biting part of himself already whispered that nothing would've changed. Perhaps he might've delayed his descent, but in the end he would've fallen into the web of corruption that plagued New York all the same.

A voice message came on his phone. He pressed it against his ear and smiled bitterly when he heard Karen's message. She got him.

He jumped off the tower and let the winds buffet him. For a brief moment he considered not shooting out the club and just letting the ground meet him. It certainly would've derailed Stick's and Karen's plans for him and he was sure Peter would find some momentary amusement at the fact that he'd committed suicide. He'd probably visit his grave, if only to spit on it. Only his mother - his dear, sweet mother - would mourn him.

His arm moved before he could think otherwise and attached the other end of the club to a nearby railing. He swung in a wide arc and thought of the irony that he was swinging through the air like Spider-Woman was wont to do.

The musings didn't last long. He'd just barely attached the club for another swing when he heard it: an arrow coming straight for him. Matt twisted his body to avoid the dull tip and only realized his mistake when it suddenly exploded behind him.

Anti-radar chaff.

His vision scrambled and the surroundings blended together into a headache-inducing haze, "Damn it." He landed on a nearby construction site and pulled the billy club. Whoever was coming after him had prepared.

A rush of air from the left. Matt ducked the circular projectile and shot his billy club into another crevice. He couldn't fight like this, not with the walls and ground flowing around like the stormy sea.

He was only halfway to his swing when a heartbeat suddenly came from his right. Someone was kicking him. He tried to twist, but they were too close. Both feet impacted at his right side and he let go of the club. Matt bit his tongue to keep from screaming as he landed and rolled roughly on the rooftop of a smaller building. Even before he landed he knew his ribs were broken.

Matt forced his hands to move and he crawled forward on his fingertips. He tasted blood on his tongue, "Heh..." Three figures landed a short distance behind him. They weren't rushing; they knew he couldn't fight back, "Seems a bit unfair, doesn't it?" he commented airily. The chaff was wearing off and he was beginning to recognize their heartbeats, "If you all wanted to talk, there are better ways to-"

He was cut off when he reached an arm forward and a figure suddenly landed from above and stomped on the outstretched hand hard enough to break bone. This time he couldn't stop himself from breathing out raggedly and choking out a soft scream of pain.

"Move and I break your other hand."

He knew that voice. The only thing he could do was laugh softly as he looked up at the blurry figure, "Ms. Stacy...long time no see." He recognized the others behind him now - Kate Bishop, Samantha Wilson and Mary Jane Watson (likely a replacement for Ms. Moon). No wonder they were prepared, "So...are Wasp and She-Hulk around? Should I expect a building to be thrown on me or to be shrunken down to micrscopic size and stepped on?"

"Quiet." Ms. Wilson pulled him up to a sitting position and pulled his arms roughly behind his back, ignoring the damage to his right limb. She bound his hands together with vibranium cuffs, "Matt Murdock, you're under arrest."

"Yes, that's what I figured." He forced out a laugh and grit his teeth at the next flare of pain that ran down his injured arm and side, "You know the vibranium is unnecessary? I've already lost the Beast's power. I'm just a normal man."

"Yeah, sure." Ms Stacy snorted, "Now shut up already. We're throwing you into the deepest, darkest hole we can find and throwing away the key?"

"Oh? On what charges?"

"Being the Kingpin, leading an international ninja terrorist group, a few parking tickets here and there. Any of these ringing any bells?" Ms. Bishop said lightly.

"I would argue extenuating circumstances considering my mental state." Ms. Stacy's symbiote thrummed. She was angry, "If you must know, I'm going on trial come the next week. You can ask Karen Page if you don't believe me."

"The D.A? Seriously?" Ms. Watson asked.

"Even if I wasn't, that's not the only reason this would be unethical. Peter-"

As soon as the name was out of his mouth Ms. Stacy lashed out and grabbed his neck. Unlike Peter she skipped grabbing his armor entirely and gripped his neck in full, raising him up with one hand as if he was a child, " _Stay away_  from him." Matt let lout a choking breath when her grip tightened, "I don't care how 'innocent' you are, Murdock. You come near him and I will  _end_  you."

"I...don't mean him any harm..." His voice came out in a soft rasp, "We're...working together...to fight the Hand..."

Her grip slackened, however slightly, and her next words were almost a growl, "Bullshit."

"Call him here, then. I have no reason to lie about this."

"You're not going anywhere near him."

"Spider-Woman," Ms. Wilson cut in, "I called Karen...Spider-Man's on his way here."

"What?! No fucking-"

"This isn't a discussion. He's on his way and we need to meet him."

They dragged him inside the partially completed hallway of the construction site and sat him on the corner wall. Ms. Bishop and Ms. Watson kept a close eye on him while Ms. Stacy paced and threw him frequent dirty looks. The only one who seemed to not mind his presence was Ms. Wilson, who focused all her attention to talking to Karen on the phone. She'd already lost - as soon as you let Karen talk it was only a matter of time.

Minutes passed and eventually Peter arrived. Ms. Stacy pulled the mask of her suit back and took him in a tight embrace, "Peter..." She continued the hug for a few seconds before reluctantly separating, "What's going on? He said that..."

"He said you two were working together," Ms. Watson finished for her, "Is that true, Tiger?"

"...It's complicated." He practically saw his scowl, "Page made a deal...and she's got a leash on him."

"No..." Ms. Stacy shook his head, "No! You can't be serious! You know what he did-"

"I know, Gwen! I know..." Mr. Crest...he doubted Peter would ever forgive him for that act, "Let's meet back up at your place, okay? We'll talk about it."

"So...what do we do with him?" Ms. Bishop gestured to him.

"We let him go so he can blow the whistle on the Kingpin's entire empire." Ms. Wilson said in a clipped tone. She dragged him up to his feet roughly and unlocked the cuffs with more force than necessary, "But make no mistake, Murdock. The second you step out of line not even Karen's word will save you. Are we understood?"

"Crystal, Ms. Wilson." He smiled.

Ms. Wilson, Ms. Watson and Ms. Bishop all left, leaving just the three of them. Peter stepped closer while Ms. Stacy watched them both warily, "...I'm guessing she made you a tantalizing offer," Matt said softly.

"You could say that."

They didn't say anything else. For a second he thought Peter would punch him again but he and Ms. Stacy just left without another word, leaving him alone in the abandoned hallway, "Heh..." He sat back down and hissed. The pain in his ribs flared with every breath and his right arm was most definitely broken. Even with Stick's old teachings he'd need a cast for a week or two.

He smiled and started laughing, trying to ignore the tears of pain that threatened to burst. That went better than expected.

* * *

"Here..."

Gwen accepted the cup of hot chocolate without a word and took a small sip. She felt naked, sitting in bed in nothing but her underwear and Peter's shirt. All she could focus on right now was the hot chocolate on her tongue; anything else and she would've exploded.

"...Do I even wanna know how you found out about Matt?"

"Lana called me. Apparently a friend of hers got 'saved' by him and she tried to warn you too." Her grip on the cup tightened, "When I heard that he was running around dressed like the fucking devil I just...I lost it. I called the Avengers, but Cindy was busy, She-Hulk's out of town and Wasp was in the middle of an experiment. I thought...I thought that he..."

"He didn't..." He shook his head and tried to offer her a calming smile, "I would've killed him if he tried."

"Yeah..." He was definitely weaker than before.  _Human_ , he said. It would've been so easy to toss him off the building and watch him crash on the pavement, "So...you two are really working together?"

"Stick and Page are using him as an attack dog. He steps out of line and he dies, then he goes to hell."  _Good_ , she thought. It was where he deserved, "Page offered me a deal. It was...hard to refuse, so for now we're stuck with each other."

"I dunno about this, Peter. You think you can trust him?"

"No, but I don't have to. Just have to trust that the ones holding his leash want the Hand as dead as I do. That, I can trust. Only thing Stick cares about is his war. Nothing else."

"I don't like this."

"Neither do I."

She finished off her cup of hot chocolate and set the glass down on the bedside table, "Well, just stay as far away from him as much as you can. Uh...speaking of, did you think about my offer? I'd feel better if I knew where you were now that that bastard's running around."

He looked away. That was  _not_  a good sign.

"Peter...?"

"Page wants me to stay with Matt." She blinked, then blinked again, then pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. She wasn't, "She thinks it'll be better if I keep an eye on him...thinks that'll it'll help, somehow."

"Uh...is she fucking crazy?!" She screamed loudly, likely startling their neighbors. She didn't care, "No, you are not rooming with Matt fucking Murderdock! I mean, you wouldn't even consider it, right?!" No answer. Her blood ran cold, "Peter...please tell me you're not-"

"She said she'd owe me a favor," he said softly, "Gwen...I may be able to get Bullseye out of Hell. If I do this I get a chance to get him out. He's down there because of me, because he saved my life."

"And now you're going to throw it away by sleeping in the same roof with the guy who sent ninjas to kill you." She reached two shaky hands out and cupped both sides of his face, "No, Peter,  _please_  don't do this. There are other ways you can get a favor from her, ways that don't involve you doing something so damn suicidal." She pressed their foreheads together, "Please. Just stay here. With me."

"Gwen-"

" _Please_."

"Gwen, I...I'm..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...who'll Peter be rooming with? His overprotective girlfriend who can be just a tad smothering or the reformed(?) Kingpin trying to make a go at the Hero business? Oh, and before anyone gets any smart ideas - no, I don't plan to have Peter/Matt/Gwen room together. Gwen would probably beat Matt to death on the first night if we went that route.
> 
> And like I said before, MJ ended up being pretty anti-heroic. I wanted to make her lighter, but having Carnage as her symbiote makes this a very difficult process. At least she mostly sticks to scarring and maiming rather than killing every criminal like Bullseye or Punisher. She's more on Moon Knight's level, though she does angst about this.
> 
> Question:
> 
> 1\. So I'm curious; did people find Matt sympathetic when he was getting his ass beat by Peter and, especially, the Avengers? Or do people still consider him (not the Beast) guilty of what happened in V1 and feel he deserves it? I'm still deciding on how much POV he should get.


	3. Daily Heroics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have our winner for the roommate vote. Exact numbers are:
> 
> Gwen Stacy: 27
> 
> Matt Murdock: 15
> 
> Cindy Moon: 1
> 
> Norah Winters: 1
> 
> Yeah...Gwen won this by a landslide. It was actually pretty even for a bit there until the latest reviews just became a cavalcade of 'Gwen!' votes. I wonder if people were turned off due to the way Matt and Peter interacted in the rooftop? Who knows. Anyway, this means we'll get more romantic segments...well, maybe. Depends on the answer to the question at the bottom.
> 
> Side note - Found out a reader actually did make a tvtropes page for this. It's called: ThroughTheLookingGlassASpider-ManNoirAndSpider-GwenCrossover
> 
> It's pretty small right now, so if anyone wants to add I'd appreciate it :D

_J Jonah Jameson: "You're here in Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson. Now my various listeners - brushheads they call themselves, though I don't know why - know about my opinion on Initiative program. I admire Captain America. Even if she makes some lapses in judgement, I and everyone else in my generation grew up with those stories._

_But that's all they were: stories! Now we've got maniacs in bright costumes running around thinking the city is their playground! What do you think, caller?  
_

_Caller: "I mean, aren't they working with the police? It's not like they're vigilantes or anything."_

_J Jonah Jameson: Working with? Oh, is THAT what you call what they do?!_ _All I see are a bunch of children in costumes doing the jobs trained professions spent years learning and leaving the police to clean up their messes! Is that what you call cooperation?!  
_

_Caller: Well, Spinerette saved me from a Supervillain-_

_J Jonah Jameson: And who do you think brought those maniacs here?! Crazy attracts crazy; that's basic math! A few years ago we had regular crime and now we've got a Nazi made of BEES terrorizing innocent people!"_

_Caller: But Spider-Woman stopped that guy-"_

_J Jonah Jameson: He came here because of Spider-Woman! They're in cahoots! And I know what some of you are thinking: the Initiative stopped the Skrull invasion. Well how do we know that they didn't bring them here in the first place?! Isn't it MIGHTY CONVENIENT that they arrived just when the camps started popping up all over our country? Coincidence, I think not!"_

_Caller: "Uh..."_

_J Jonah Jameson: "Speechless? I don't blame you. It's a scary thing to think about. Now, that's all the time we have. Remember, you can order my book, Spider-Woman: Threat or Menace, for 59.99 and- what is it, Jared?! I'm trying to...wait, did you just say Spider-Man's back in town?! Ugh, I gotta...I gotta lie down..."_

* * *

Peter didn't answer her.

Gwen looked up at the ceiling with a tired scowl. He'd just looked away and said that he'd think about it. What the hell was there to think about? Even if she considered the idea that the guy was innocent - and that was  _godzilla sized_  fucking if - she absolutely couldn't accept the idea of the two of them sharing the same roof. If Evil Cindy came back on her hands and knees claiming she'd changed Gwen wouldn't have done anything but throw her back in her hole. Murderdock deserved no better, devil or no.

Webster jutted out of her shoulder and rubbed her head against her cheek,  **"Are you alright, Gwen?"**

"Not really..." She rubbed her fingertip over Webster's head, her scowl being replaced by a worried frown, "It's just...I don't get it. Why the hell is he even considering this?"

**"To save his friend. That's what he said, right?"**

"Yeah, but..." She chewed on her lower lip. She didn't want to admit it, but even now she couldn't understand Peter's loyalty to the guy. The man was, to put it quite bluntly, a psychotic asshole. Those pictures he sent on that disastrous birthday party were apparently all too common and she still remembered him using the dead at the Times Square massacre as ammunition against her. She was grateful he saved Peter's life, but that's the only thing positive she felt about that murderer.

**"Do you trust him?"**

"Of course I do."

**"Then trust he'll make the right decision."**

"Easier said than done, Webs..." She turned to the right and curled in on herself. She wanted to go out and patrol to blow off some steam, but she knew she had to get up early tomorrow for classes. Psyche280 first thing in the morning and Ms. Gonzales was meticulous with attendance. Gwen didn't know why, though; wasn't like she cared if people actually paid attention. Maybe she just wanted an audience for her anti-Super rants.

Eventually she drifted off into a not so peaceful sleep and woke up to the sun shining through the window, "Time is it...?" She looked at her phone and frowned at the 8:17 that greeted her. Classes started at 9 and it'd take 15 minutes to walk to campus. Swinging over there was a no-go. Cap didn't want anyone catching on about her frequent haunts, or so she said.

She put on a pair of cargo shorts and sandals (Peter's shirt fit well enough) and walked out to an empty living room, "Gone already, MJ?" She sighed and took some chocolate from the fridge while she made toast. Despite being roommates she and MJ didn't talk much nowadays. It was gradual at first; so gradual she didn't notice until later that MJ was practically never at home.

For a while she didn't think anything of it. They had different schedules and they still hung out during break, so no big deal, right? Well, yeah, but that was before she saw Norah text MJ about a guy who made local headlines about getting off from a rape charge cause his dad knew some guy who could grease some palms. Even then she could've ignored it if the guy didn't show up the next day hanging from a post by his arms with a far too suspicious bleeding spot between his legs and the word 'RAPIST' carved into his chest.

The guy begged to be put in prison afterwards and that was the last she saw of him.

Gwen knew MJ had done it, and MJ knew that she knew. They never talked about it. Gwen tried, God knew she did, but every time she even got close to broaching the subject the redhead would suddenly clam up or make an excuse about work or a project. Wasp assured her that the symbiote couldn't take control and her physical state was stable. It didn't do much to calm her down.

"First MJ and now Peter. Why are my friends such a pain in the ass?" She munched on her toast bitterly as she made the short walk to campus. MJ'd been all too eager to offer to move out when she heard Peter was coming back. Gwen didn't tell Peter, but she had her own reservations on it even if she hoped some space might actually do them both some good.

Gwen made it to class just in time. She took her normal seat at the back and was already glazing off five minutes in, "Clearly these 'Gifted'-" Ms. Gonzales said it the same way someone would say an STD, "-received the luck of the draw. Which is all well and good. Sometimes people get lucky and sometimes they don't. But now, that clearly wasn't enough for them. They had to lord it over everyone."

"Oh my God, this is such bullshit..." Gwen muttered. The person next to her was too busy being asleep to comment.

"Don't be fooled into thinking that these so-called 'Superheroes' have your best interests in mind. They do not. It's clear by their behavior that they're motivated by a sense of entitlement and a desire to flaunt their new 'gifts'. Just look at the amount of colatteral damage they incur trying to 'save' us." Meaning her car, which Gwen stepped on when she was trying to stop a fucking Godzilla monster from destroying the entire city. But apparently that didn't matter, right?

She was suddenly reminded of Murderdock's lecture from before. People didn't want heroes. They just wanted to get through the day with the minimal amount of effort and get a cookie at the end of it. At the time she'd been content to ignore it, but people like Ms. Gonzales really made her doubt. She knew it was petty. After all, the rest of the city (apart from a few outspoken dicks) were appreciative about not being flattened by a giant space monster.

Still, having to listen to the old hag rant about how they were so selfish every couple of days pissed her off to no end.

Gwen pulled out her phone under the table and looked through tweeter. She-Hulk pushed her to make an account for Spider-Woman (she already had over 5 million followers), mostly to control any controversies/allow people to contact her easier and partially to make sure no one else tried any shit under her name. Wasp had made sure to set up her phone with router blockers to make sure no one could try anything either.

She wasn't dumb enough to log in to said account at school, but going in as Gwen Stacy shouldn't have mattered. She clicked the Spider-Woman account - FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman...hey, no one said she had to be creative - and glossed through some of the posts aimed at/about her.

It was the usual shit. A lot of people giving thanks for her continued patrols (take that, Ms. Gonzales), some people asking questions she had no plans of answering (no, she wasn't going to tweet out her measurements or the exact details on her powers) and at least one person who claimed he went out on a date with her (she'd just ignore that since it was the dozenth in two weeks).

And then she saw something that drew her attention.

**SuperiorSpider: Hey, anyone heard Spider-Man's back in town?**

**ScarletSpider: no shit?**

**SuperiorSpider: Yeah. Friend has an older brother who's a police officer and they arrested like five guys who attacked a guy and tried to rape his girlfriend. Couple said Spider-Man saved them.**

**Blade: how'd they do know it's Spider-Man? could be one of the Spider Worshipers.**

**SuperiorSpider: *web . jpg * that's his web right?**

**ScarletSpider: dunno. think**   **FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman knows?**

**GW: Didn't they break up?**

**MsAmerica: wut? lol no. whyd you think that?**

**GW: Guys leaves the city for like a year. You don't think they're still together?"**

**MsAmerica: pretty sure she'd say something if she broke up with her zombie bf.**

**ScarletSpider: JJAtHomes gonna flip when he hears.**

**SuperiorSpider: New podcast coming out tonight. Eagerly awaiting with popcorn to watch the meltdown :3**

The posts devolved into more arguments on her relationship status along with some more stupid stuff. She logged out and went to Readthat to look for anything new. She-Hulk also insisted she do it at least one every couple of days at the minimum. In some ways some troll behind the computer could be worse than a Supervillain chucking bombs.

Personally Gwen didn't agree, but she had an hour to waste so screw it. She went to the Spideyspam thread and looked at the top posts.

**Spider-Woman sightings**  
Posted 8 months ago by CampbellSoupBoy  
**890 Comments Share Report**

**Spider-Woman fanart - NO NSFW TRASH**  
Posted 3 months ago by icantthinkofaname  
**497 Comments Share Report**

**New Spiders on the block: Spider-Girl appreciation thread**  
Posted 1 month ago by GenericSnowflake  
**87 Comments Share Report**

**Spectacular Spider-Woman #15 - Weekly Comic Discussion Thread**  
Posted 2 days ago by That_One_Guy  
**851 Comments Share Report**

She scanned through the top posts. Nothing offensive so far, and apart from a few trolls, which was expected, it was all good. Gwen couldn't help but laugh under her breath when she saw people discussing this week's issue of the comic. Most of it was the usual stuff - pacing, plot, character design, the youzhe. So far it was selling pretty well and she got a decent kickback from her likeness being used.

The next hour was spent glancing through various sites while Ms. Gonzales continued to rant and rave. Gwen had no clue how she planned to grade them. Would probably just make them do a paper that counted for 90% of their grade or something.

Gwen heaved a sigh of relief as soon as class ended. Next class was the one with Prof Warren and that one she had no problems listening to. Sure, she wasn't that good with Biochem (or science in general) but he was good at explaining and never got on your case no matter how dumb the question was. As long as you were willing to learn he was willing to teach.

Gwen spent the next part of one and a half hours just taking notes and occasionally answering questions, "And you can see just how different genetics can be when exposed to even the most minor of stimuli." Prof Warren gestured to the video on the screen, "Any of you saw that Jude Law movie? Doesn't matter. Point is that in possibly just a few decades time gene splicing will be commonplace."

"What would that do?" A girl near the front asked.

"Anything, really. You can't get superpowers, of course, but imagine if you could adjust your intelligence, your appearance, your natural aptitude with a quick few combinations." The video ended, "Ah, but of course this is all framework currently. We'll all probably be long gone by the time the beginning trials even start."

Gwen kept her mouth shut. It probably wouldn't do to tell anyone that she knew Captain America's clone and that she herself was technically gene altered herself considering she and Webster were inseparable now.

Class ended on a reminder to study for next week's test. Gwen was almost out the door before she remembered yesterday's conversation, "Hey, Professor Warren?" She tightened her hold on the straps of her backpack when he turned to face her with a friendly smile. "You still do sit ins, right?"

"Of course. Know somebody?"

"Kinda..." It couldn't hurt to ask, could it? "I have this friend. He's  _really_  good at science - has been since we were kids - but he couldn't attend school till recently. I'm trying to convince him to attend ESU and he's got his doubts. I was kinda hoping that he could sit in on your class and..."

"And that'd convince him to attend here?" He finished. Gwen nodded and his smile widened, "Well, it's flattering that you consider my class good for this. I don't see why not. Just remember that I only allow two sit ins, but if this guy's as good as you claim then I'm sure that won't be a problem."

"That should be good. Thanks, sir!" He waved goodbye and Gwen made her way to The Bean, a bit lighter in step than before. Peter seemed a hard sell, but she knew him. Science was always something he enjoyed, messed up memories or no. He wouldn't have spent that first month reading through every science textbook she had if he wasn't the same nerd she always knew.

She was the first one to arrive. Gwen stepped inside and walked to the counter, "Hey, Eugene. Mocha caramel."

If there was someone she didn't expect when she first came here all those months ago, it was Eugene Patillio. Apparently he'd started attending ESU and worked at the coffee shop for extra pocket money. Or at least that was what she overheard. She didn't pry into it too much. The guy was nice, but unless he was in danger she really didn't think it was any of her business what he did with his time.

The owner definitely tried to take advantage. He'd promoted and advertised that he now had a bonafide hero working for him behind the counter. A few people got excited, but when they realized it was Frog-Man that deflated quickly. Didn't matter; guy still sold some coffee for the people that went.

Nevermind the fact that Eugene didn't pass the Initiative. Technically Peter and MJ didn't either so she didn't say anything.

"Sure." Eugene rang up the register, "That'll be 3.50."

She handed him a 5, "Keep the change."

**'We should've gotten chocolate.'**

_'You ate this morning. Shush.'_

She took a sip of the caramel-y goodness and sat outside in the shade after ordering the usual for the others to save some time. MJ was the next to arrive and seemed reluctant when Gwen patted the seat next to her on the table, "Hey, Gwen." She sat down across from her instead and sipped her own drink, some strawberry thing that was way too sweet for Gwen's taste, "How was the hell class?"

"Same as always." She shrugged one shoulder, "Did you come back last night?"

"Nah, went back home for a bit. Thought you'd want your privacy." MJ eyed the shirt she wore and Gwen suddenly felt self-conscious. It wasn't  _that_ loose on her, "Didn't want to be a third wheel, you know?"

"You wouldn't have been-"

"Oooh, someone looks like they got a good dicking."

Both Mary Jane and Gwen jumped at the sudden voice. Hand on her chest, Gwen looked up and glared at Betty while Glory facepalmed behind the bespectacled brunette, "I can't believe you actually said it..." Glory muttered.

"Hey, I call it like I see it." Betty shrugged without a care and sat next to Gwen, drinking her cheesecake shake, "We all saw how she excited she was when she heard short, dark and broody was coming back. Surprised she even came to school today. Figured she wouldn't be able to walk."

"Our resident future psychologist, ladies." Mary Jane rolled her eyes good naturedly at the brunette's grin, "You're clearly the best of us all, Betty."

"I know." Betty winked, "Still, I'm serious. Thought you and broody would've gone on a date or something."

"We're having some...issues." Gwen raised her straw up and down.

"Issues? Like, he couldn't get it up-"

"Not everything's about that, Betty," Glory sighed, "What's the problem, Gwen?"

"It's about our jobs...so it's kinda long."

"Ain't like we got anything better to do, Gwencent," MJ said.

So she told them everything...well, mostly. She left out the part of what they did after their reunion, though she got the feeling they all knew anyway; the shirt probably didn't help. Gwen couldn't stop herself from becoming more bitter and frustrated the longer she told the story. Would it have been too much to ask for them to have even a single day without things blowing up in their faces? She'd spent a year waiting for him and the first thing they had to deal with was Murderdock's bullshit. It was enough to make her scream.

Betty was the first to speak, "I don't get it. If this Murdock guy was was possessed by the devil, then isn't he innocent? What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is I have no clue if he is! I mean, what if he's just a bad man turned worse? I don't want Peter under the same roof as this guy!" She wouldn't want him under the same roof even if Murdock wasn't a smug, murdering prick. Anyone who dressed up like the damn devil after what happened to them definitely had a lot of screws loose, "I mean, I'm not crazy, right?"

"Definitely not," Glory said, "I'll admit I still have some doubts about the guy, but I wouldn't want him in danger or anything. I think you should try to convince him again when you see him."

"I'm not so sure..." MJ mumbled, "If this Murdock guy really wasn't in any control then maybe Tiger rooming with him'll do him some good? I mean, it couldn't hurt..." She looked down at her drink again. Gwen got the distinct feeling she wasn't thinking about Murderdock right now, "Didn't you always say people deserved a second chance? Especially if they couldn't control themselves."

She definitely wasn't talking about Murderdock.

"That's...That's different," Gwen said. It came out far weaker than she would've liked, "I mean, even if he is innocent why the fuck does Peter have to room with the guy? People like him don't just get to put their hands up and go 'it was just a prank, bro'." This wasn't going well, "So, MJ, anything you want to talk to us about?"

The redhead's eyes widened at the sudden shift in focus to her. Gwen knew that getting her to admit anything by herself wouldn't work, but with Glory and Betty here she might have a better shot. MJ's eyes darted to each of them in turn and she opened her mouth to answer.

"I got offered a modelling gig."

That...was not the answer she was expecting.

"Wait, seriously? When?" Glory asked.

"This morning." She pulled a card out of her jacket and put it on the table.  _Kingsley Enterprises_ , it said, "Thought the guy was just a creeper or a scam artist, but I checked the name. The company's legit and the guy was one of his agents. Apparently he hangs around campus sometimes looking for 'local talent' and he said I could 'go places'."

"Huh..." Gwen inspected the card. Definitely looked legit, "So...you taking it?"

"I...I'm not sure."

"Why not?" Glory asked, "Assuming this is real, it seems like a good deal. Can't be any worse than the movie job, right?" They all shuddered. MJ had regaled them all of the horror stories on entitled moms and flirty creepers she'd dealt with for the past month, "Besides, you could probably get some decent attention this way. Would probably help since we haven't done a gig in a while."

That was another thing MJ didn't like to talk about. The band had definitely fallen off on their list of priorities in recent months. Sure they still took some gigs here and there, but it could hardly be considered a focus. Gwen blamed that on the symbiote. Wasp told them that it'd still take a while - she couldn't place an exact time - for MJ's 'partner' to not be set off by the sounds coming from the stereos and instruments.

"It'd probably help pay for rent if I get a new place, I guess," MJ said eventually.

"Assuming Spider-Guy doesn't end up rooming with the ex-lawyer, ex-devil person who's currently running around dressed like a devil; which is pretty grim if you think about it," Betty chimed. Gwen scowled at her, "What? Just telling it like it is."

"Ugh, that's it, I'm done." She tossed her cup of coffee on a nearby trashcan. Well, getting to talk with MJ was a bust. She'd try again later.

Classes went by pretty easily for the next few hours and soon enough she was free to patrol and forget the stress of the day. That was pretty normal too - a few muggings, two attempted kidnappings, and new Supervillain...well, she said new, but really it was just the same guy in a new costume. Apparently Walrus decided to switch to Sea Lion for more 'brand recognition'.

Didn't help much. She still left him hanging and blubbering for the cops. If there was one thing she loved about being an Avenger, it was that she could be sure these guys were going to jail. She'd even checked in on a few trials here and there.

She also passed by White Rabbit and Frog-Man having a 'duel' and left them to it. The two were arch-enemies at this point and it would've been rude to cut in.

**'Can we pass by the shop?'** Webster asked in her best good girl voice. She knew it all too well; it was the same voice she used when she first asked her dad for a drumset.

_'You're hungry again? I just ate before we left campus!'_  Despite her words she was already swinging the familiar way. Still, she really needed to talk to Webster about its eating habits. You'd think they were eating for three instead of two.

She shifted back into her casuals and bought a truckload of white chocolate (Webster's favorite) before making her way back home. It was the weekend tomorrow, which meant it was time for her daily visit back home.

Jessica opened the door a few seconds after she knocked, "Sorry, didn't order diabetes. Think you'll want the house a couple of blocks down."

"Very funny, Jess." Gwen rolled her eyes and side-stepped the older woman. She set the bundle of chocolate on the kitchen table and kissed her cooking dad on the cheek, "Mmm, smells delish!"

"Burgers." Her dad smiled up at her. Even with being confined to a wheelchair it didn't stop him from keeping the house spick and span. He'd even joked about becoming a house husband, which Jessica always scoffed at. He was already walking a bit; he just got tired easier.

"Great." Gwen grinned. The baby monitor was quiet, "I'm gonna go check on Helena."

Gwen made her way upstairs to the new room and her chest warmed at the sight of the baby playing with the Spider-Man tsum tsum doll. Gwen was reluctant to part with it at first, but for Helena it was love at first sight and she couldn't refuse. She went with it everywhere. One time they forgot it during a park trip and she did  _not_ let them hear the end of it.

The baby looked up at her arrival and laughed, "Hey, little sis." Gwen grinned back and picked her up carefully. No matter how bad her day was seeing her dad, Jess and Helena always brightened it up, "Whatcha been doing?"

The baby babbled back excitedly. Gwen wiped the spit from her chin and kept her close. She definitely shared a lot from both her parents with Jess' dark hair and pale skin but her dad's blue eyes.

"Man, you wouldn't believe the day I've had. You're so lucky you get to just sit here and play." She sat down on a nearby chair and rocked her gently. Helena curled up to Gwen's chest and pawed at her face, "You know, I told Peter about you. You know him, right? You never go anywhere without him." Gwen snagged the tsum tsum with a line of webbing and pulled it to them. Helena laughed and grabbed at the doll.

They still had no idea if she had any powers; wasn't like there was a universal test for it. Captain America said they should just take a wait and see approach, which was fine with them. They'd love her either way.

Webster jutted out of her shoulder and Helena immediately grabbed for her, though she came up short due to the doll taking up her arms, **"Hello."** Webster nuzzled against the baby's cheek left cheek. She'd taken to Helena just as quickly as the rest of them, which really only made sense. Webster was family at this point so Helena was as much her sister as Gwen's.

"Come on, 'Lena, let's go down and keep dad company."

* * *

"The best time to wear a striped sweater is all the time~ One with a collar...turtleneck~"

"Do you  _have_  to do that?" Felicia threw Cindy a dirty look, which she responded to with a grin. The two of them were sitting side by side on a very expensive sports car - Felicia's personal vehicle, which she'd 'oh so graciously' decided was worth bringing out considering Cindy

"Yep, and you don't get to complain. I spent 3000 bucks for your services." 3000 bucks of  _her own money_ , mind you. Granted she was fine with spending money, but doing it to do a job they hadn't even equipped her properly for grinded her gears something fierce. Last she checked police officers didn't have to pay for their standard issue guns.

Truth be told that wasn't the only reason. Sure, she was annoyed about the steep price, but really she just needed something to distract herself. Even now over a year later she still had issues with confined spaces. Not enough to start hyperventilating, but enough that she felt an uncomfortable prickling in her skin. Back then the best way she dealt with it by filling the space with noise. It was a common coping mechanism, or so her therapist said.

The fact that it was annoying Felicia was just a welcome bonus.

"If I knew you'd be this grating then I would've upped the price to 5000."

"Good to know. Just for that I'm singing the Krusty Krab pizza song." Felicia groaned and Cindy sang loud and off-key.

According to Felicia's contacts this spot had a large amount of sudden disappearances so they pulled all the files on Gifted in the area and found only a single on within a few miles radius. One Zacharcy Braun, a recent high school graduate. According to his file he could glow in the dark...and that was it. No one considered him dangerous or noteworthy enough to look twice at.

Still, it was the only lead they had so here they were.

Cindy sipped her coffee lazily and looked out through the rain soaked window. They'd been parked here for a couple of hours now. Zach had an apartment on the first floor of the building across the street and, fortunately, had a habit of leaving his window blinds up. Unfortunately he also had a habit of going around shirtless and playing air guitar like he was in front of an audience. Wasn't like there was even much of a show; she was pretty sure she had more muscles than him.

"Is this really what we're going to be doing for the entire night?" Felicia groused.

"You don't like it I can always get my money back. Cash, preferably. Less likely to leave a trail." She held out her hand and grinned smugly.

Felicia swatted it away, "I thought you hero types would be less petty."

"You don't know me very well, then."

"Point." The cat burglar (heh) let out a small breath, "Fine then. A question: what made you take this assignment? The Avengers weren't good enough?"

"It's actually been pretty slow recently." Cindy reclined in her seat, "After we took out H.Y.D.R.A and S.H.I.E.L.D went underground there haven't been any 'Avengers Assemble!' level crap they need us for. The whole Asgardian thing is more for diplomats than us." Though she did come with as an escort at one point. She was not disappointed - Thor's abs were worth more than the price of admission.

"Still, why here? I can't imagine this is much more thrilling."

"Because I can do good here." Cindy shrugged, "I'll whine and moan that it's so annoying, but I can change things even just a bit. Gwen and the others can't be everywhere at once, so why not help the police so they can do things without us having to hold their hand? If that means sitting on a car with a far too expensive partner then that's what it takes."

"...I'll never understand you hero types. Always to eager to throw your time and effort to something you'll never be thanked for."

"It's called thinking about your fellow man, Feli. You should try it sometime."

Her response was cut off by the sudden tingle of Cindy's spin-sense. Cindy's attention snapped back to their unknowing protectee only to see him get swallowed by a sudden circle of glowing black smoke. He was gone.

"Step on it!"

"Where are we going?!"

"Street in front of us!" Her sixth sense was guiding her. Cindy lowered the window and and stuck half her body out, ignoring the rain that pelted her. She raised her gun and took aim. This was more than probable cause.

Just as she hoped, the glowing smoke appeared above them and she saw Zach struggling in mid-air. Just barely she made out a misshapen figure in a black cloak hovering above him.

Cindy fired. The figure turned around and she saw eerily pale skin and blonde hair that contrasted heavily against the surrounding darkness. A woman.

She disappeared just before the bullet hit and took Zach with her, "Turn left!" Cindy screamed. Felicia muttered a curse in French and followed her instructions. The figure appeared again, briefly hovering through the air. She was teleporting, Cindy noted dumbly, though only short bursts at a time. Still, she was slowly but surely gaining speed. She needed to stop this.

"Floor it!" Cindy sreamed again.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" Felicia shouted back, "I go any faster and we'll cause a pile up!"

"Then just do it for a few seconds!"

Another curse came and went. Cindy pulled up her scarf and waited till she got close enough. The figure disappeared again and re-appeared in front of the entrance to an alley, "Now!" Without any other warning, Cindy jumped out of the window and swung towards her. The woman's glowing eyes widened just before Cindy tackled her chest mid-air, making sure to avoid the swirling black smoke that emanated from the cloak.

They fell. Cindy webbed the screaming Zach to the wall just before she and the cloaked woman impacted against the ground. She took the brunt of the fall, though she'd taken worse before, "You're under arrest for attempted kidnapping!" God, did  _that_  feel weird to say. The woman struggled and Cindy pinned her arms to the ground and jumped to avoid the smoke again.

"You don't get it-"

"That's what they all say." Cindy ducked the barrage of smoke again as the woman phased through the webbing, "Huh, did  _not_  see that coming."

"We're trying to save him!" The woman screamed. There was an odd reverb in her voice.

...Wait, did she say  _we_?

Her question was answered when her spin-sense blared loud and proud. Cindy jumped from the wall to avoid the six inch daggers of light, "Woah!" She twisted mid-fall and her spin-sense screamed again.

This time she wasn't able to avoid the last projectile. The light dagger stabbed her right side and Cindy fell to the ground in a heap. It wasn't painful; at least not in the way a normal knife to the side was. It felt more numb than anything and she suddenly found it hard to mode said side. Cindy coughed and looked up to see a dark skinned man helping up the woman in the cloak.

"Dagger, we have to go!" His voice had a different reverb to the woman. Almost melodious in a way.

"But-"

"We tried!"

They disappeared in another flash of glowing smoke. Cindy raised her left hand and tried to web them but it only met air, "Shit...!" She stayed pinned to the ground for almost a minute before Felicia finally made her way to her, "Took you long enough..."

"I was stopped by the police. They didn't appreciate our little joyride." She knelt down and eyed the dagger at her side, "That looks nasty. No blood, though."

"Yeah. Pull it out."

Felicia shrugged, "If that's what you want."

The younger woman grabbed the dagger and pulled it out without much fanfare. Cindy breathed a sigh of relief as feeling returned to her side and she stood. Her spin-sense was quiet; they were long gone by now, "Damn it..." At least Zach was alright. He was muttering to himself and looking up at the sky. First thing they needed to do was get him a shirt.

The dagger dissipated into light and left no trace. So much for clues.

"I'm guessing this isn't the end of it?"

"Ya think?" Cindy rolled her eyes, "Come on. I gotta file a report."

* * *

"Pieces of shit!"

It was nice not having to feel guilty sometimes. Growing up in the Kitchen, she knew it was hard and sometimes you had to do some nasty stuff to survive. A dad who robbed to get money for his son's surgery, kids who sold drugs so they wouldn't starve and, yeah, moms who prostituted themselves to make sure their kids got decent educations. She'd seen it all.

For a while she felt bad putting on a mask. She grew up in those same streets, so what made her think she was better than them? Was it cause she was a freak now? Did that mean she could suddenly start judging? She'd limited her vigilante sprees at times. She was pretty damn sure you couldn't justify rape or being a fucking serial killer.

And then there were these fucks.

Lana punched the closest bastard in a suit right in his jaw. He flew through the air, spun around twice and then impacted against the side of the cargo container. Gabriel came to her with some info - meeting at the docks exchanging 'hot products'. Apparently he got it from the USB drive he managed to yank before that bastard Murdock, ugh, saved him.

She only found out later that the 'hot products' were  _people_.

"Watch out, Striker!" Spider-Girl landed behind her and kicked a guy's arm right before he could shotgun her back. She knew her new suit could take a beating - thank you, Melvin Potter - but she still didn't want to test her luck.

"Thanks!" Lana blasted the guy in the face while Anya was suddenly covered in an off-blue carapace. Anya's powers were weird. From what she told her before, she was a 'Hunter'. Ignoring the mystical bullcrap, it basically meant she had magic tattoos that gave her powers...for a while. Sometimes it was a few hours, sometimes it was just a few minutes. Anya told her she also had to choose which to bring with her. Apparently magic ink wasn't cheap and she only had so much skin to paint over.

Anya raises her arm and charges to a group of guys with machine guns. The bullets bounce off the blue shell and she plows through them like a fucking juggernaut, "Nice one!" Lana takes care of the stragglers and Anya shifts out of the carapace to start webbing at the dazed gunmen. It's nice, having someone like Anya to watch her back. She could definitely get used to it.

Soon enough all two dozen wastes of human skin are caught and tied up. Anya called the police while Lana picked up the duffle bag full of money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, at least. The price for trading a life. She's almost tempted to take some for herself (not that she needs it with her Initiative stipend) or, failing, that, tossing the damn thing in the river so no one could have it.

They'd already let all of the victims out. All of them were foreigners, likely tricked or forced into this shitshow. The bastards were transporting them through cargo containers. That's what they were to them - cargo, something to be sold and pawned off while they counted their money.

She passed by one of the more far off containers before she heard it, " _Ayudame por favor..._ " Lana's eyes widened and she rushed to the locked opening of the cargo container. Everyone in the containers had screamed and cried when the shooting started. They didn't notice this one because it'd been so quiet.

Lana smelled it before she opened the container. She wrenched the doors back and almost vomited when the smell hit her in full force. She'd seen dead bodies before, but that was always before the rot set in. Now she saw piles of people all laying on top of one another. No injuries, and most of them still had their eyes open even as their bodies lay still. They must've cooked alive inside.

And then she saw it.

A hand weakly struggling under a large pile. Without even thinking about it, Lana charged through the rotting bodies, jumped and pulled the girl's warm hand up, "I've got you..." She carried her in her arms and rushed out, eyes tearing up from the smell. The girl was young, maybe 14 or 15, wearing a stained tanktop and shorts and her dark hair tied in a loose braid.

The girl whispered, " _Salvame._ "

Save me.

"I am..." Anya reached her and her eyes widened when she saw the younger girl's state. Lana's blood boiled. These pieces of shit didn't deserve a four walls and two meals a day. They should've been the one baking in that damn cargo container, "I gotta take her to the hospital. Stay here."

Lana left without hearing the other girl's response. The weak teenager in her arms shifted and whispered one final word before drifting off.

"Aracely..."

* * *

Gwen was in the middle of the third chapter of her science book when she heard a knock on the door.

"MJ, you lost the keys?" The redhead never knocked; even when it led to a few accidents with bath towels and misplaced underwear. Gwen never bothered to tell her off; she never knocked either. Gwen stood up from the couch and padded to the door, "We really need to start keeping track of-"

It wasn't MJ.

Gwen blinked and looked up at Peter's sheepish expression. He looked...better than when he left last night, "Hey, Gwen..." She looked down and found him holding a deluxe size pizza out with both hands like a peace offering, "Could I come in?"

"Uh, sure. No prob."

He set the pizza (her favorite, bacon and cheese) and they sat next to one another without a word or a single slice touched. Webster looked up from her spot on the table briefly before it took her pile of chocolate and slithered to their room to give them some privacy.

"So..."

"There was..."

Silence again. Gwen hated it. Hadn't they been through this before? Stuttering and dancing around each other because they couldn't talk like normal fucking people. Not this time."

"Did you think about it?"

"Yeah..." Peter nodded.

"And...?"

"I'm...I'm staying with you." Her eyes widened and she couldn't say anything. She hadn't misheard him, right? "You're right. I can work with Matt, but more than that...I can't be sure. I'll talk to Page, see if I can work out another deal and-"

That was as far as she got before she leapt across the small space between them and pinned him down with a kiss. She was laughing, she realized idly, laughing and crying in so much relief at his answer. He wasn't going to stay with that murderous bastard and she wouldn't have to stay up at night worrying if he'd get his neck cut while he was sleeping.

The pizza was cold by the time they actually got around to eating it, but neither of them cared. Gwen dug into her slice and leaned against the end of the couch with her feet on Peter's lap as they watched some mindless sitcom on TV. She loved this. Maybe neither of them were normal, but they both deserved a chance to just relax with each other.

The episode ended and the door opened again. MJ stepped in and paused when she saw them, "Uh...hey, Tiger," she said awkwardly, "Didn't think I'd be intruding. I should go-"

"No, it's fine. There's enough pizza here for all three of us," Peter said with a smile.

Gwen was quick to join, "Yeah. The more the merrier!" She gestured to the empty space on Peter's other side. It was obvious MJ was reluctant, but she wasn't going to pass this up. If Glory and Betty couldn't work then Peter was her next choice.

"Uh...alright, sure." MJ sat and Gwen handed her a slice of pizza. Something told her this was gonna be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty slow chapter, at least for Noir and Gwen. Lana and Cindy, meanwhile, are actually getting to their stories because they aren't too busy making googly eyes at other people I'll focus on Gwen and Noir's plots in the next chapter.
> 
> Anyway, like I said above Gwen won the vote so now these two lovebirds are rooming together. What about MJ, though? Well, that's where the next question comes in.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Should I have MJ stay in the apartment with Gwen and Peter or have her move out on her own? The former reduces the romance since MJ will be more present but it'll also allow more Peter and MJ interactions; especially given her anti-hero slant. I know a lot of readers liked when Peter helped her out at first before she got taken to Wasp, so that might appeal. If you want more romance then MJ moves out.
> 
> 2\. What do you guys want for the next chapter? I can do something plot based but I'm also thinking of writing another chapter for the true hero this story needs and deserves, Frog-Man. Depends if you guys want to see awesome amazingness or something boring about Noir's continuing war against the Hand remnants.


	4. Nighttime Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I'd like to thank Nerdman3000 for massively editing the Through the Looking Glass trope page :D It doesn't really matter considering it's already been three years or so since I started the story, but as a troper it makes me happy to see. For anyone interested, you can find a link to it by going to the tvtropes Spider-Man Fanfic Recs page and checking under General Fics.
> 
> Anyway, on to the votes. I won't bother with exact votes now, but the results came back and Mary Jane staying won out. This means we'll generally get less romance but at least we get more MJ Carnage plot with all three characters.
> 
> Speaking of, MJ got way more focus than I intended; she's gotten more than Gwen as of this chapter. I promise the next chapter will be Gwen-centric so we can finally get some actual Superhero action in this fic rather than Gwen worrying about living with her boyfriend.
> 
> Another thing that got focus on by reviewers are people wanting Peter to attend ESU and be normal. I'll ask about this in the lower AN cause this was an unexpected turn.

* * *

MJ had never felt more like a third wheel in her entire life.

The uncomfortable redhead shifted on the left side of the couch and tried to focus on the webflicks show. It was something about a bunch of uncomfortably hot teenagers who looked about 25 solving a murder mystery - typical nightly trash. Normally she would've already been making jokes about how goofy the performances were or playfully complaining about looking for something else to rot their brains with.

Now all her attention was drawn to the other two people on the couch.

She shifted on the couch again and gave the two Spiders a sidewards glance. Gwen took up the right side of the couch and propped herself up one her elbows while Peter took the center, leaving little space for gaps between the three of them. It didn't take her long to notice that Gwen's feet were on his lap and he was giving her...a foot massage?

He didn't even seem to notice that he was doing it. His thumb flicked up across the top of right foot while her left moved and tucked itself under his thigh for warmth. Gwen's expression showed no signs that she noticed it either and she made another comment about the latest joke falling flat. MJ wiggled her own toes in her flip flops and swallowed the lump in her throat.

MJ pointedly looked back at the screen, only to immediately regret it when the next scene showed two of of the actors making out. It was that time on the show again, "Ugh, really? Those two don't even have any chemistry," Gwen complained loudly. It did little to stop the heat on MJ's cheeks.

This was a bad idea. She wasn't a stranger to being the third wheel around couples; sure it sucked, but she was used to it. Band always kept her too busy and after Crimson...well, dating was off the table unless she wanted to risk cutting someone's dick off...unintentionally.

**_'Jealous?'_ **

_'Shut up.'_  The right side of her mouth twitched. Thankfully the scene cut away before the actress' breasts were out and the sight of the dead body with surprisingly good make up did little to stimulate her. Ever since she'd made the deal the sight of violence and gore on her hormones had dramatically decreased. Which was good; she didn't fancy looking at torture porn to get off.

_**'Nothing wrong with liking what you like.'** _

_'I said shut it.'_

The worst part of it was that Crimson was right. She was jealous, though a lot of people probably would've been confused as all hell if she told them she wasn't sure of who. She didn't like Gwen's feet on Peter's lap, but was it because she wanted to be the one getting a foot massage or be the one giving it? She bit her lip and tightened her grip on the couch's armrest.

She'd confessed to Gwen over a year ago and they hadn't said anything about it since. She knew Gwen well enough to figure that she wouldn't have told Peter anything about it, so that was one less load of her mind. She didn't know how much of the 30's he had left, but she got the feeling he wouldn't have been as accepting of her comments as Gwen had been.

Gwen tried to talk to her throughout the show, but MJ pushed her off. She wasn't blind. She knew what Gwen was doing - pushing, prodding, trying to get through the cracks now that she had someone else to fall back on. Peter seemed to notice the tense atmosphere in the room but said nothing. She appreciated it; the last thing she needed was two sets of pitying looks.

Eventually the show ended and she made an excuse of being tired to go back to her room. She didn't leave immediately, even if she was really tempted to. Gwen checked in on her sometimes to see if she was still there. The blonde hadn't left any of her little spiderlings to spy on her - not yet, at least. MJ didn't want to give her a reason to either.

She spent the next couple of hours just looking up at the ceiling. Crimson stirred impatiently and she ignored it. They both wanted to go out, but damn if she couldn't let the damn thing stew.

Eventually the clock ticked for 1 am and she was confident enough that Gwen was finally asleep. MJ opened the window and shivered slightly at the cold air that greeted her, "I need a better costume." She pulled up the hood of her sleeveless hoodie and jumped up to the opposite wall to start climbing. She couldn't stick to walls naturally like Gwen or Cindy, but her claws were sharp enough to leave some small holes to grab onto.

**_'Know where to go?'_ **

_'Remind me.'_ This was the only time the two of them even came close to getting along.

She felt a pull to the south and she followed. The webbing she used wasn't like Gwen's and Cindy's. It was razor thin and blood red, the tips stabbing into the surfaces it hit and disappearing back into her body as soon as she let them go. Still, enough people had caught pictures of her mid-swing to decide that she had some sort of connection to Gwen. Just another Spider, they thought.

Which made it all the more necessary that they never realized she was the one who was running around leaving scumbags to hang on poles.

This next shining example of humanity was Carl Burbank, an esteemed soldier with a chest full of medals who also happened to be a complete piece of human garbage. He'd been stalking a woman with a young son and, lo and behold, beat the kid to death and had his buddies take turns on the woman when she tried to stop him. Judge was in his pocket so all he got was a slap on the wrist and some mandatory psyche meetings to 'deal with his obvious PTSD', which he didn't even bother to go to.

This one almost did slip through the cracks; only reason she knew about it was cause Norah managed to dig the guy up. Apparently Mr. Burbank had a liking for the sauce and he ended up bragging to anyone within earshot - one of which was one of Norah's sources - about how slick he was for getting away with it. A few follow ups with a grieving sister and parents later and they had all the info they needed.

Burbank wasn't alone when she found him. Mary Jane crawled through the slightly ajar window into the dark room. She counted him and six of his buddies in the next room over, which fit the numbers of what Norah's sources said,  ** _'More meat for the grinder.'_** She could practically see Crimson licking its lips and she knew why. There was no leaving these bastards for the police. They were leaving here either with her dead or them in bodybags. No scouting places out so she could change her mind.

The seven of them were gathered around a small table with cards and chips in front of them with only a couple of bulbs above for light. She could charge in there now, but the last thing she wanted was for one of them to run if she missed. Without Crimson in control she wasn't as adept at using her powers, not like when they fought evil Cindy.

Thankfully the kitchen she'd landed in led to the basement and she knew places like these weren't too different from one another. She stalked down the stairs to the basement and found the breaker box. Damn thing looked barely held together and she almost felt bad slashing through it.

The resulting blackout was instantaneous, "What the fuck!" Someone screamed above followed by a bout of cursing, "Shit, breaker musta tripped again. I'll check it out."

Perfect.

She crouched behind the stairwell and waited. Slow footsteps passed over followed by a flashlight scanning the wall, "Hey, what the fu-"

That was as far as he got before a blade cut through his stomach. He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out, "Hey, guys! I need a little help fixing this thing!" 'He' said, barely able to widen his eyes in disbelief. Another little gift Crimson had. At first she'd thought it was morbid, using people like puppets, but then she remembered she ran around looking for people to maim and kill.

Two more sets of footsteps came down. Mary Jane tossed the soon to be dead body on the corner and jumped up to the space right above the doorway.

People never looked up.

There was enough distance between the two that she could grab the the stockier one lagging behind. She 'webbed' his mouth shut and pulled him up. Poor bastard barely had time to struggle before she broke his neck and let him drop to the stairs with a sickening crack.

His much lankier friend turned around just in time for her to jump on top of him. There was no grace or finesse to it like Gwen. She grabbed the tall guy's head and, without so much as a quip or a warning, slammed it down. The back of his skull broke on the first hit, but she kept going at least four more times. By the time she was done her hands and the floor were covered in blood.

"What the fuck?!"

Her eyes widened and her head snapped to the top of the staircase. One of Burbank's buddies. Mary Jane didn't have time to think; she already heard the other two scrambling. She ran up the stairs and cut his throat open as she passed, "Burbanks!" She got to the living room and found it empty with the door already ajar. The bastards were running.

**_'Don't let them escape!'_ **

_'I know!'_ She rushed out the door and looked around briefly,  _'Do you know where they are?'_

**_'Alley across the street!'_**  It growled, _**'This wouldn't have happened if I was in control!'**_

_'Keep dreaming!'_ She jumped up the length of the small building and saw them racing down the alley. She couldn't tell which was Burbanks,  _'Screw it.'_  She jumped down to the closest one just as they crossed into the empty parking lot. The guy turned around and she got enough illumination from the streetlight above to tell her that it was not, in fact, Burbanks.

She brought a clawed hand through his face right before a gunshot rang out. Mary Jane's head snapped up and she saw Burbanks pointing a pistol at her. At first she thought that he'd shot her, but then they both noticed the pool of rapidly growing blood in his midsection. Burbanks looked down his mouth parted open slightly in shock right before he fell on his back.

"Who...?"

She stood up and turned around to the source of the shot. Her adrenaline immediately washed away and she felt like she'd been doused in ice cold water when she saw Peter lower his handgun, his expression hidden underneath his mask, "T...Tiger..." her voice came out soft, meek. How much of that had he seen? Was Gwen around? Why was he even here?

Peter stepped past her without a word and kicked the gun away to keep Burbanks from grabbing it, "What'd this guy do?" he asked, so softly that she almost didn't hear him between Burbanks' moaning.

"...He murdered a baby, and he and his buddies raped the mother."

Peter shot him through the head. Despite her own plans for him Mary Jane couldn't step herself from wincing when the bullet made impact, "Let's go before the police arrive." He nudged his head and holstered his gun. Mary Jane paused. She'd seen him like this before, but was he really the same guy who gave Gwen a foot massage and laughed along with her lame jokes just a few hours ago?

She followed him without a word till they arrived at the top of a small building. Peter took off his mask first and Mary Jane followed, her sweat slicked hair sticking to her face. She felt naked standing there without her face covered and the blood still on her fingers, "How...How did you know I was here?" she forced herself to say. Anything was better than the silence.

"I heard you leave and followed. It wasn't easy."

"...Is Gwen with you?" She cringed as soon as the words were out.

"No. She was asleep when I left." Mary Jane let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Somehow knowing only Peter knew relieved her. Gwen knew what she did, but she'd only ever seen the aftermaths; never the graphic process, "...How long have you been doing this?"

"A few months..." She walked past him and sat at the edge of the building, heels clicking against the wall. Anyone who looked up would just see a woman in a cheap and ill-fitting costume, "I...made a deal with Crimson back when we were fighting Cindy's evil twin."

"Crimson? Well, guess it's a better name than Webster."

_**'I still preferred Carnage.'** _

_'Shut it.'_ She pursed her lips and looked ahead as Peter sat next to her a short distance away, "Deal was it stops trying to kill Gwen and innocent people. In exchange I look for people who won't be missed instead." Saying it out loud reminded her of just how grim the entire thing was. They'd kept going so far, but how long could she really keep this up?

**_'You act like humans will stop being terrible. We'll never run out of people to kill for years even if we stick to just this city.'_ **

_'That's not the point.'_

**_'Then what is? It's not hard to find targets. We can go to different places if you get tired of New York. I heard that Mexico place is good for it.'_ **

"What if I don't want to keep killing people for the rest of my life?" she said aloud in frustration. Peter didn't say anything about her sudden outburst, "I'm not like Gwen. I wan't something besides costumes and risking my life. I want a  _life_ , I don't want to do this forever..." The fingers on her clenched fists turned to claws, "I'm sick of having to hold myself back from killing people. My first instinct shouldn't be to cut someone's neck open!"

**_'You made the deal.'_ **

"Don't remind me..." She looked to Peter with a bitter smile, "You must think I'm crazy, huh?"

"You kill people and you hear voices, so no, not really." The butterflies in her stomach worsened at the wry smile he gave her. There was no judgement in it, "Trust me, Mary, I've seen and done a hell of a lot worse than that." The blunt admission was comforting in a way. Peter could understand her in a way that Gwen and her perfect symbiote couldn't.

"Yeah, I guess you have..." She raised one knee and hugged it close to herself, "So...what happens now?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're gonna tell Gwen about this." She couldn't stop herself from frowning. So far Gwen had been hesitant to talk to her, but as soon as he said something all that would go away. She couldn't tell which was worse - dealing with Crimson on her own or having Gwen hover over her constantly and tell her what she could and couldn't do for her own good.

"...Do you want me to?"

"No." She hugged her leg tighter, "I...I don't want Gwen to look at me like I'm some kind of monster."

"You're not, and she'd never do that."

"No offense, Tiger, but I'm not the one fucking her." She knew it was bullshit as soon as she said it. So what if she and Gwen weren't in bed? Gwen was one of her best friends and the blonde was so self-sacrificing that she helped people despite the years of scorn and ingratitude she got in return. Gwen wouldn't turn against her now, "I just...I want to control this without being a burden again."

That was a load of shit. She just didn't want to disappoint her any more than she already had. Gwen trusted her and what did she do? Ran around like a fucking serial killer styling herself like an angel of vengeance. She didn't feel bad for the people she went after; she just didn't want Gwen to know it.

"What makes you think you're a burden?" Peter pulled out a cigarette and lit it quickly. Mary Jane waved away the smoke with a frown, "You've seen what we've all dealt with last year and God knows both of us tried to help you."

"And I appreciate it. It's just..."

"...Gwen said you wanted to move out." She took a deep breath and nodded, "Well...I can't force you to stay, but I'll tell you this. I know you think that the best way to handle this is by yourself, but...pushing people away won't help. Trust me, I've been down that road before." He smiled bitterly, "Me and Gwen and the rest of your friends...we're here for you."

"Haha, can't believe I'm getting a lecture on the power of friendship from the Dark Spider." He gave her an unamused look and she grinned. Her next words came before she could stop herself, "Hey, you wanna come over for dinner tomorrow at my place?"

"That's...random."

"Better than talking it out in this rooftop." She shrugged, doing her best to appear calm even if her heart was going miles a minute, "I can't talk to Gwen about this, not yet, but...but you get it. You and Gwen...you're practically in different worlds. When you heard about what that bastard did you didn't even hesitate to gun him down. Gwen could never do that." It was something Mary Jane both loved and worried about when it came to her.

"I suppose." He looked down at the streets below briefly, "You mind if I bring Lana along?"

"Uh...no, not at all," she said softly. It was an odd feeling, being both relieved and disappointed all at once, "The more the merrier."

The left side of his mouth twitched but their phones rang before he could say anything - a text for him and a call for her. For a second she dreaded that it'd be Gwen's name on the screen and was torn on what to feel when she saw her dad's instead, "Sorry." She turned away and answered the call while he read the text. She'd almost ignored it, but curiosity won out. He hadn't called her in years; she was honestly surprised he could still afford a phone.

The sounds of strained breathing came from the other end followed by her dad's voice, soft and strained, "Mary Jane? Sweetie?" Her grip on the phone tightened. Her dad only called her dad when he wanted something. 'Don't tell mommy about this, sweetie', 'She doesn't need to know, sweetie'.

'You know what'll happen if you talk, sweetie.'

"What do you want?" Mary Jane didn't bother to mask the distaste in her voice.

"I...I need your help." She raised a brow. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears and she didn't have any sympathy at all, "Please...come here...please..."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'll die if you don't."

The call cut off. Mary Jane looked down at her phone and pursed her lips. Die? Yeah, right. Probably just another cry for money - that was the only thing he ever needed from them.

"...You gonna go to him?" Peter asked softly.

"I guess." She let out a frustrated breath. Better her than her mom and Gayle, at least, "Sorry to cut this short."

"No problem. I gotta go anyway, just got a message from Page."

"I'll see you around, Tiger."

She was barely out of sight of him when Crimson decidd to butt in again,  ** _'I know what you're doing.'_**

_'What are you on about this time?'_

**_'Your attraction to the boytoy. It's plain as day.'_** She almost missed the next swing at its sudden laugh, ** _'Oh, I'm not going to stop you, don't worry. Anything we can take from Stacy I'm all for.'_**

'It's...It's not like that.'

**_'Then why were you so disappointed when he invited his hatchling along?'_** Mary Jane didn't reply, ** _'Don't worry, your secret's safe with me, Red.'_**

"...Shut up."

She made it to her dad's house in record time. Mary Jane dropped in a nearby alley and shifted back to a set of casual clothes. As much as she had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with the thing she couldn't deny that it was convenient at times. She'd saved hundreds of dollars in Ooper fares alone.

**_'You're welcome.'_ **

Her dad's place was unlocked when she got there. Mary Jane stepped inside and only managed a slightly raised eyebrow at the sight that greeted her: her dad on his knees, his face swollen and bloody, while two men in suits held him down by his arms. A third in a marginally more fancy suit was sitting close by on the ratty table and his face lit up when he saw her.

"Well, well. Ol' Philly here wasn't lyin'!" Suit guy exclaimed. The southern drawl was immediately distinct to her, "Pretty little thing, ain't ya?"

"What do you want?" Mary Jane crossed her arms. To think just a scant year ago she would've been scared of people like this and running to Gwen for help. Now she he to suppress the urge to chuck the grinning bastard out the window.

"Mary Jane, sweetie-"

"Not talking to you." She didn't so much as turn in his direction, "What do you want? You one of his bookies?"

"In a manner of speakin'." He leaned back on the chair, "See, ol' Philly cheese steak here 'borrowed' some money that he was very quick to assure he was gonna pay back. And for a while he was due on his money like a good little boy, but then tonight we found him inches deep in some sweet little thing 'stead of making his usual payment. Funny that."

"If you know anything about 'Philly cheese steak' you wouldn't have given him a single cent." Mary Jane shrugged.

"Yeah, we're figurin' that now." For a second she almost felt sympathetic to the slimeball. Just another person Philipp Watson screwed over, "See, now this is where you come in." He leaned forward and didn't even try to hide his leer. Mary Jane clenched her fists behind her back to keep them from seeing the clawed tips, "Told us about his pretty little daughter who was doing well for herself."

"Oh really?" This time she did look at him. He actually did have the decency to look guilty at that, though she was way past the point of caring, "And would him calling me over here lead to some kind of scenario where you and your boys try to find other ways that I can pay you back?"

"Whooo-weee, you got big brass ones on ya, girlie." He rubbed his dark mustache and grinned, "I apologize if my checkin' you out gave you the wrong idea, but we are not that kind of organization. We take cash and anything valuable we can sell for said cash. See, boss don't like us wettin' the whistle cause you'd be surprised how many are willin' to go for it. A good few minutes ain't worth it, ya see. We'd lose profits."

"So what do you want?"

"We want you to make a payment for Philly cheese steak here. Cash, check, don't matter."

"Ha..." Mary Jane looked down and smiled wryly. Here her dad was again, drugging her into his problems. She could just walk away. They'd kill him, but that was no skin off her nose. Her mom would feel bad about it for a bit but then she'd remember how much of a waste of skin he was and the years of hell they had under him. It would've taken no effort at all.

The other option, of course, was to kill them. They were loan sharks so chances were they weren't exactly squeaky clean. While she didn't have much sympathy for people who ran into these guys for money, they were criminals all the same.

But then her dad would find out she had powers and then he'd blab to anyone who could hear to try and turn it into his favor and despite everything she didn't want to kill him. She was suddenly reminded of that moral dilemma in her philosophy class about the train. People were all too willing to let one person over three get run over without doing anything but not when you had to pull the lever to switch the tracks.

Besides, she didn't want to kill anyone for him. He didn't deserve that much.

"...I don't have any money now." Suit guy raised a brow, "But I can get some. I'm a model."

"A model?" He looked her up and down again, "Well, you got the looks for it. When can we be expectin' our money then?"

"Next week. I've got a new gig, cash up front." That one wasn't a lie, at least. It was one reason she'd been tempted by the offer. Even the upfront offer was worth months of waiting the counter at the theater, "Here, look at this if you don't believe me." She tossed him the card.

He looked down at the card and whistled, "Kingsley? My daughter loves this guy." He tossed the card into the ground and stood, "Fine then, girlie. Cash next week with interest."

"Fine."

He called his goons over and they dropped her dad on the ground before leaving. Mary Jane looked down at her whimpering 'father' and pursed her lips. She had no idea why she was helping him. He made his bed and now he could lie in it...right?

_**'Feeling guilty?'** _

_'For what? That was your fault.'_  She picked him up and set him on the bed none too gently, ignoring his groans. Despite her words she couldn't deny the bubbling feeling in her gut. She nearly killed him over a year ago and hadn't even checked in at all afterwards. Sure he didn't deserve it, but she had to be better than that.

_'She says, after killing six people less than an hour ago and watched him get mugged just a week ago...'_

Mary Jane sighed and walked out the door without looking back. She needed to clear her head...

* * *

A museum. This was new.

Peter jumped through the window without touching any of the panes and landed on the on the room's beams. Page told him to come here because of a break in. She wouldn't have bothered if it was just a bunch of idiots trying to pawn of a thousand year old jar, "Hmm..." He closed his eyes and focused. He saw the figures through the walls. Too many to be museum staff, and he was pretty sure security guards weren't supposed to be carrying swords around.

Here they go again.

Peter clicked twice on Gwen's webshooter and shot towards the grate to the next room. Thankfully the museum was poorly lit and no one noticed him walking on the beams. He looked down at the assembled crowd and sighed at the suits and oni masks they wore. Hand goons, probably belonged to Murakami or Gao going by the suits they wore. Bakuto tended to go for cultists and Sowande preferred mercenaries.

"Spread out and find the scroll." The one in front, presumably the leader, said. The goons split off into their own groups while the leader went to the backroom. He counted at least a dozen of them. Best if he didn't make any noise.

He waited till only two remained in the backroom before he grabbed the closest one and and tugged him up to the ceiling. He didn't have time to scream before he was covered in a blanket of paralytic webbing. That new part of his gift wasn't too useful in most situations, but at least it kept people from trying to scream.

Maybe that was why Gwen wanted him to try it...he shook his head. Not the time or place.

The second one on patrol noticed her partner's absence and looked around. Peter jumped down on top of her and punched her in the face hard, breaking through the mask to expose the face underneath. Japanese by the looks of her with nondescript features. Murakami's then - Gao tended to focus on the more foreign members so they could blend in to different surroundings.

He zipped back up to the rafters and made his way to the East Hall. The remaining 10 had split off in groups of 5 and he knew from experience that these guys were suicidal in an open fight. It didn't matter if their patron was gone - Murakami trained his fighters to treat every fight like it was their last. At least Sowande's troops had the decency to cut and run when they figured it wasn't worth it.

Two of them were guarding the entrance. Peter tossed a mine into the wall and it began to sound out mimicked footsteps, "Let's check it out." The burly man told his shorter compatriot. His partner nodded and followed behind him...just in time for the mine to grab him and pull him into the wall. Peter jumped onto his stunned partner and webbed him to the floor before punching the struggling goon pinned to the wall.

The remaining three in the group we bunched up together and destroying the stands. Peter pursed his lips and looked around till he found the light switch on a nearby wall. Amazing how the smallest thing could be used.

He turned it off.

Peter rushed towards them and disabled them as quickly as he could. One of them managed to scream something out to alert their buddies before Peter knocked her out - perfect. Peter disappeared in a wisp of smoke (just in case) and pulled out a flashbang. Murakami also trained his goons to go in groups. Safety in numbers; a lesson he didn't take himself. Better if he got them all in one go.

The remaining five were barely in the room before he tossed the flashbang right at the center. The sudden brightness made them stumble back and Peter jumped down. He made sure to either web them down or snap an arm or a leg; it was the only way to be sure they wouldn't get back up again outside of just putting a bullet through their skull.

Peter snapped the last goon's arm and punched him in the head, "Last one..." Only the leader was left. He sighed and made his way back to the entrance of the backroom. He said they were looking for a scroll, right? He could only assume that meant another ritual of some kind. He shook his head. What happened to the days when he just had to deal with criminals trying to make a buck.

The leader wasn't in the backroom. Peter's eyes narrowed and he stepped inside, looking around warily. The backdoor led to some kind of storage room. The dim flourescent lighting and shelves full of crates contrasted heavily, "Hm..." He walked towards the camera hanging on the wall and picked it up. This didn't look like it belonged here-

Spider-sense.

Footsteps from behind. Peter made no show of noticing and continued to hold the camera with one hand while the other inched towards the gun on his jacket holster. A shot to the knee would keep him down.

He turned around and raised his gun just when something smacked the guy from behind hard. The guy fell on his face and the figure from behind grinned, "Hey, Ben."

Norah.

"Summers." He webbed the leader down and handed her the camera. She looked different. Her hair was longer and pulled into a ponytail and he made out a thin, faded scar on her right cheek close to her eye. She wore a brown leather jacket, a peach scarf, dark jeans and boots. It didn't draw attention, which was a rarity for her.

"Nice to see you too." She rolled her eyes playfully and punched his shoulder, "We should go."

"What are you doing here?"

"Who do you think told Karen about the break-in?" She hooked the camera around her neck again and checked the contents, "The Kingpin Empire trial's next week and people are trying to offload as much as they can. This was Fisk's otaku stas so Robbie told me to check it out, especially since the owner was 'close friends' with our dearly departed big Willie."

"Owner? Where is she then?"

"Those creeps were interrogating her about some kind of scroll. She wasn't much help, so they gagged her and stuffed her in a closet. Pretty nice of them, actually." Hardly. Murakami just didn't like leaving dead bodies; that got the police antsy, "Did some sneaking around and..."

"...What did you do?"

She winked and, with the most audacious grin on her face, pulled out a small scroll from her pocket, "Shadowed one of the goons who found this, so I knocked him out and took it. Figured it'd be better if these guys didn't get their hands on it."

"Nice job." He wasn't going to comment on it technically being theft. She probably wouldn't have cared, "We need to get out of here then. Murakami's like a bloodhound when it comes to what he wants."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that the owner cut the cameras before I even got here. Guess she didn't want anyone to see what she was smuggling in these things." She crossed her arms, "We should probably tell the cops that too. Robbie sent me here cause he was worried Fisk's old buddies were using the statues to smuggle drugs into the city."

"I'm on it." He pulled out his phone and tapped the third person on the speed dial. It only rang twice before she answer, "Hey, Cin?"

"Pete? I'm kinda busy, sorry-"

"There's been a break in at the museum by some of my old ninja friends." Norah began to pick the door leading to the back alley, "They were looking for something here, but it's not just that. Fisk's old contacts might've been using the art pieces here to smuggle things into the city. You're in good with the cops now, think you can get them here to check?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely." She sighed, "Alright, but please don't make this a thing. I'm not Commisioner Gordon."

"Dunno what that means." He cut the call and followed Norah out into the alley, "Where to now."

"My place."

Norah's new apartment was small and nondescript, which she attributed to the cheap pricing and the lack of questions asked by the landlord, "Benjamin, I'm home!" she said as soon as she was inside. Immediately Dog zipped out of the adjacent bedroom and scratched her heels with the telltale smile on his face. Norah took care of the little guy ever since he left the city and at this point he was more her dog than his. He didn't mind; Dog seemed to pick his owners himself.

Dog noticed his presence and barked happily, focusing all his attention on him. Norah laughed and shucked off her jacket, exposing the gray button up shirt underneath, "Looks like he missed you." She set the scroll down on the table and picked up her laptop as she sat on the couch, "Speaking of, you owe me a year of child support, mister! Dog food ain't cheap!"

"And neither's the rest of that stuff." He picked up the pug and stared at the assorted toys, bowls and even a small bed on the corner of the bedroom, "And wait, did you just call him Benjamin?"

"Yep. Just cause you're too lazy to name our kid doesn't mean I am." He was just gonna ignore that. A year later and her jokes never got any funnier, "Anyway, I didn't say it before, but it's nice to see you again. Somehow I knew we'd meet up again like this."

"That makes two of us." He sat beside her on the couch with Dog between them, "Looks like you picked up some souvenirs." He gestured to her cheek.

"What, this? Yeah, I was dealing with some Darkweb hackers who ran a red room. They got me a bit before I turned the tables." She scratched at the scar somewhat self-consciously, "You wanna know the worse part? Those guys weren't even the worst I had to deal with. Remind me to tell you about a creep by the name of Dollmaker when I get a few drinks in." She shuddered, "Thank God I had Frank's gun on me."

"Dollmaker? I heard rumors about that guy..."

"Chances are they're all true." She stood and grabbed two cans of beer on the wall and tossed one to him, "But enough about me. You recognize that scroll?"

"Hm..." He unfurled it and scanned through the lettering. He'd picked up on languages in his year of traveling. Not enough to be mistaken for a natural, but enough to converse pretty fluently. He scanned through the faded letters and the picture, "My fuedal Japanese is rusty, but it mostly translates to 'The broken pieces can be repaired to something new'. I think."

"What's that mean?"

"Who knows." He rolled the scroll up again, "The Hand put too much stock into legends and fairy tales.

"Do you know what they're doing?"

"Trying to keep breathing." He opened the beer and drank down a heavy gulp, "They've been alive for centuries, Summers. Alive and powerful. At this point they don't have a goal outside of staying alive and keeping the power they spent years stealing and killing for." His grip on the can tightened, "They'll dress it up, but at the end of the day they're all cowards scared of what's waiting for them."

"Good to see your sense of drama hasn't changed." Norah rolled her eyes playfully, "Anyway, I'm gonna do some research on this and another case. Make yourself at home."

"Sure..." He looked down at the can and said his next words without facing her, "You know about Mary's thing, right?"

Her fingers stopped typing briefly before she continued without missing a beat, "Sure," she said casually.

"...You're helping her?"

"Sure."

"Should I even ask why?"

"Because I don't know what else to do." She was still typing like nothing was wrong, "I tried to help her. The two of us spent months just...trying to rein her in. It didn't help. She made a deal with that monster and she couldn't just ignore that. That and...maybe MJ isn't as against it as she says."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't mean that she likes killing people or anything. I mean that...the power she gets, the fact that she's making sure scumbags don't get away with their crimes and that they can't hurt anyone else...I think it makes her happy. There's nothing else I can do at this point, Ben. I'm sorry."

"Wasn't looking for an apology." He couldn't judge. How long had he indulged Bullseye? "Just be careful, both of you."

"Pfft, who do you think you're talking to?" Her smile wasn't as confident as she might have liked, "We'll be fine. Besides, now that you're back in town things can only get better. Did you hear Hitlerstache's latest broadcast? I think he got a heart attack cause he heard you were back in town."

"That's a tragedy," he snarked, "Anyway, I should probably go. I'll see you around."

"Count on it."

He took the scroll from the table and stuffed it into his jacket. Page would want to see it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boring plot chapter done. Sadly almost no one voted for the epicness of Frog-Man. It's alright, I know greatness has to be prepared for rather than sprung on without warning. We'll see when I can put him in again.
> 
> Anyway, at this point I think it's fair to say that Mary Jane counts as the fifth protagonist for V2, even if she's very closely tied to Gwen. She even has her own planned arch-enemy - Calvin Zabo/Mr. Hyde. Creator of the Hyde formula which is what makes up half of the Carnage symbiote in this fic.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. MJ's segments ended up far darker than I originally intended. She was going to be a regular Ideal Hero at first, but then I remembered, oh yeah, Carnage Symbiote. Still, are you guys fine with her current tone or would you prefer her shifting to a more idealistic scenario?
> 
> 2\. Speaking of MJ, I've also gotten reviewers asking for a Peter/Gwen/MJ threesome. I mean...seriously? Now that Noir/Gwen is a thing do you guys really want me to up-end the relationship dynamics to squeeze in MJ as a third branch? It seems kinda needless, doesn't it?
> 
> 3\. Would you guys want me to focus on Peter attending ESU and doing normal life stuff? When I had Gwen suggest it I meant for it to come off as a joke but it seems to have gained traction. I never really intended for Noir to be normal in V2, but it seems like a really popular idea.


	5. A Day in the Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, a chapter that focuses on Gwen doing actual hero stuff. Granted the end of it gets into mushy crap again, but that's what people want given the cavalcade of Gwen votes. I'll downplay it in future chapters, mostly cause writing it made me feel pretty cringy even if I can justify why they'd act like that in-universe.
> 
> After this I'll probably make the Frog-Man chapter. I think I've given people enough chances to gird their loins and prepare for his utter greatness. The true hero is coming, ladies and gents! I'll also make a Mayday/Spider-Girl omake to thank Nerdman3000 for expanding the tvtropes page.
> 
> Focusing on MJ, one of the issues a couple of people had was the one year timeskip and yet MJ's character seems to have been frozen from when V1 ended. I'll try to remedy and explain this a bit in the next chapters. 
> 
> On a side note, a lot of the people who were all for the threesome seemed really invested in adding the symbiotes into the mix...and at least a couple didn't even want Gwen and MJ in, just Noir and the symbiotes. Guys, I know Lana mentioned reading Punisher/Noir doujins but that doesn't mean he's a super bottom. That and I doubt he's into Carnage considering past experiences.

Gwen woke up alone again.

"God damn it, Peter..." Gwen groaned softly and sat up, rubbing her eyes as she did. She'd fallen asleep next to him and now she was all alone; even Webster was sleeping on a pile of chocolate next to the bed. Was it too much to ask not to feel like she was at the end of a bad one night stand? "MJ's probably gone too..." Off doing her...thing. That red bastard should've died with Kasady.

She swung her legs over the edge and stood on her bare feet with a small yawn. Today was one of her rare free days, which meant being free to go on patrol without having to worry about some kind of homework or project due in a couple of days. She had to admit, getting into college hadn't been easy. Days of nothing but patrol or Avengers work had quickly tapered off into meticulously planned schedules and trying to juggle both school and hero work, at times to mixed success.

She technically didn't need to go. Being an Avenger didn't have any degree requirements and money was hardly tight, all things considered. Still, she couldn't deny that a part of her wanted this: to be normal, to go through college like her dad wanted even if she was pretty sure being an Avengers was for life thing. Besides, it couldn't  _hurt_ to get a better idea on what made criminals tick, even if she had some doubts on the accuracy of those Supervill Analysis courses. Last she checked Shocker's quilt fetish wasn't because he felt a special connection to his grandmother.

Gwen poured her cereal (chocolate, of course) and idly watched the news. Nothing special: a few political debates (skip), a new Supervill team that got stopped by the Initiative (thank you, Cap) and a group of Skrull sympathizers who screeched about how the green aliens who tried to flatten the city with a Godzilla monster were just misunderstood (chipped away at her faith in humanity).

Things had been uneventful for the past few weeks. Ever since they stopped H.Y.D.R.A and the Initiative really took off there'd been a noticeable lack of of city destroying, world ending threats that needed their attention; even her usual patrol beats were covered by Initiative recruits. Don't get her wrong, she's glad for that, but it still took some getting used to the idea that the city wouldn't suddenly be blown up just because she decided to stay in and pig out on some pop tarts.

Webster crawled out of the room and shut the door behind her, "Morning." The blob waved hi before it opened the fridge and pulled out its daily assortment of cookies, chocolate syrup and ice cream. At this point Gwen was pretty sure Webster didn't need all of that and she was just spoiled for sweets. Last she checked ice cream and tater tots didn't have Phenethylamine or whatever it was called.

Webster took a seat opposite her on the table and ate,  **"Gwen, we're running low on ice cream."**

" _Again_? I just bought a tub like a couple of days ago." Webster 'shrugged' and continued to eat without pause, "...I think we need to put you on a diet. You've been pigging out  _way_ more than usual lately."

**"You weren't complaining when I helped you lift that building. And that train. And that crashing jumbo jet-"**

"Alright, geez, I'm nothing without you and you complete me! You don't have to rub it in..." She coulda sworn the little blob smiled at that. Ever since they'd re-bonded the little gal seemed to pick up on her (awesome) sense of humor, "Still, you really do need to pace yourself. The corner store's selling out more than we can buy at this point." That and the cashier was wondering how she never gained weight despite buying up practically their entire sweets aisle.

**"Then let's**  goT **on patrol to 'burn the fat'."**

"...You just want an excuse to pass by the new ice cream place, don't you?"

**"Superheroes get half off according to the latest promotion."**

She laughed under her breath and, after finishing her meal, rejoined with Webster again. Going on patrol now actually did sound good. Tomorrow she'd probably have to study for Prof Warren's test, so a little Spider-Woman time would do her some good.

There wasn't much to do. She passed by a few Initiative hopefuls who greeted her happily (she returned the favor) and swung by the the ice cream place at about noon. Only two muggings and one attempted kidnapping, so it was a pretty slow day all around.

She sat at the edge of a building and dug into the ice cream. Sometimes she found it hard to believe that it'd only been a year since it all ended, and even less than that when the Initiative first started out. Despite her doubts she really couldn't deny that Cap was right in encouraging Heroes. She really didn't want to think what would've happened with H.Y.D.R.A or those Skrulls without the Avengers around.

A buzzing from her phone drew her attention. Gwen tapped the screen and smiled when she saw the message from her mom. She'd gone to France with Ben and May shortly after Peter left and from what she heard she was doing well with her own flower shop. A fresh start just like she wanted. Gwen missed her, of course, but they could always visit one another. It wasn't a goodbye.

Speaking of moms...

She tapped the screen to call Jessica, "Hey, Jess."

"Hey. Bored?"

"You know me so well." She finished off the last of the ice cream and ignored Webster's plea for seconds. She really needed to put her on a diet, "What happened to the Valdez thing? Still need help?"

"Nah, I already got the pics. Now I just gotta tell the grieving wife her limpdick hubby was putting it up his boyfriends' asses." Gwen sighed sympathetically. It was bad enough to find out your husband was cheating, but finding out he was doing it with other men? That'd leave a mark for a while, "After that I got the pizza case. You can come with if you want, but it's just gonna be more stalking and waiting."

The glamorous life of the private investigator wasn't as exciting as the tv shows made it out to be. Most of the time it was a lot of following around cheating spouses and insurance fraudsters and taking pictures at just the right moment. After that it was telling the unlucky husbands and wives that their suspicions were right or getting a shylock fired for wasting company benefits. The latter was a hell of a lot easier than the former.

Gwen chatted with Jessica for a few more minutes before she heard the distant booms, "Gotta go, Jess." She cut the call and swung to the source of the sound. The blonde Spider landed on a nearby rooftop and groaned when she saw the five figures rushing down the street.

The Sinister Six; though she heard rumors that they were relabeling into the Fearsome Five. She recognized almost of them: Shocker, Boomerang, Overdrive and Beetle made up the first for while the last one was someone new. A long haired brunette woman wearing leather that left way too much of her chest exposed. There was a thin line between confidence and exhibitionism.

_'Aren't these guys supposed to be in jail?'_ The amount of breakouts had been drastically reduced ever since Wasp introduced the idea of using Dyne particles to deter prison breaks (not much you could do at an inch tall) and save resources. There were complaints about possible abuse, of course, so right now it was only on a trial basis with the Raft as the testing ground. Easy enough to see why - Supervillains had a much higher chance of busting out and causing trouble and Supermax prisoners in general were dangerous enough that people were easier to convince that security needed to be measured up.

It looked like a typical heist. Boomerang and Beetle were carrying sacks filled with either cash or diamonds while Overdrive bolted for the closest car. Meanwhile Shocker and Leather Lady were fighting off the cops, the former with his handblasts and the latter by...making them naked?

Gwen almost looked away when the closest cop was stripped down to his birthday suit. The poor guy screamed and immediately rushed to cover his privates while Leather Lady laughed her ass off. Yup, definitely an exhibitionist.

She swung down and got Overdrive first. The helmeted Supervillain had barely started to transform the car before she yanked him out of the driver's seat and webbed him to the wall, "Stay there for just a second!"

"Woah, Spider-Woman! This is so awesome!" Yep, definitely a Superhero fanboy. It was kinda creepy, actually, "Could I get a pic later?"

"Seriously?" Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Oh, hell no! Not you again!" Beetle cried.

"Yep! Long time no see, Beetle!" Gwen dodged her laser blast and webbed both her gauntlets together. The armored woman tried to charge at her anyway and Gwen jumped over her, kicked her to the wall next to Overdrive and covered her with a metric ton of webbing.

"God damn it, not again!" She screamed.

The remaining three were running away without even looking back while the cops regrouped. Gwen swung over them and yanked the sack of loot from Boomerang's arms, "City full of goody two shoes and we gotta run into you!" Boomerang shouted and tossed both 'rangs at her.

Gwen grabbed them mid-flight and tossed them back, "Yep, aren't you the lucky ones!" He was hit twice, one in the gut and the other in right in his face. Boomerang crumpled to the ground with a pitiable groan and Gwen stuck him to the ground almost as an afterthought.

Two left.

Leather Lady stopped while Shocker kept running, "Let's see how you like this." Leather Lady actually  _floated_ a few feet off the ground. Gwen landed on a nearby lamppost and debated whether to kick her out of the air now before she suddenly pointed both hands at Gwen, "Take this!"

"..."

"..."

They stared at each other in awkward silence. Gwen looked down at the slightly shaking surface of her wrist and turned back to her, "Um...is something supposed to happen here?"

"You're supposed to be stripped down to nothing." Leather Lady's face screwed up in concentration. Again, nothing more than a slight tingle from her wrists, "...That's not cloth, is it?"

**'Nope.'**

"So...I'm gonna punch you now, alright?"

"...Sure."

Gwen left her tied up at the same lamppost and swung after the last remaining member. She almost felt sorry now. The loot was long gone and none of the police got hurt apart from the poor guy who lost even his tighty whities.

It didn't help much that he looked honest to God  _scared_ of her.

"Hermann, buddy, where ya going!?"

"Just stay the hell away from me!" He shot down at the ground and propelled himself up. He landed on a roof and kept boosting like a chipmunk on a sugar rush, "Just leave me the hell alone!"

He was  _really_  scared of her.

_'That's your fault, by the way.'_

**'Our symbiosis wasn't proper back then. You didn't even really trust me.'** Webster 'huffed'.

_'Yeah, well, now Shocker thinks we're gonna eat him.'_

**'That's dumb. He wouldn't taste very good. Not enough chocolate.'**

_'...It worries me that that's the first thing that comes to mind for you.'_

The chase didn't last much longer. As soon as Shocker landed on a high enough rooftop she webbed one of his gauntlets and yanked it out of his arms. He barely had time to raise his second one when she did the same and webbed them both to the surface of the roof under a thick blanket of webbing. No way he was getting those now.

Gwen stuck him to the wall with his feet hanging inches from the ground. He struggled against the webbing desperately, "Help! Anyone, help!" Was he really screaming for help? The fuck? Alright, she'd be the first to admit her last episode wasn't  _ideal_ , but what the hell? You'd think he'd figure out that she wasn't going to go apeshit after she helped save the city from aliens.

"Alright, Hermann, we need to talk." She leaned against the wall on her right shoulder with her arms crossed a fair distance from him. Any closer and he might've pissed himself and neither of them wanted that.

"Wh-What about?"

"Your little prison break. See, I know for a fact that you and the rest of your little group were in the Raft and that right now you shouldn't be more than six inches." It seemed sort of unfair at first, but considering they'd broken out about half a dozen times already she was less sympathetic than she probably should've been, "So, how'd you get out? Dyne particles to reverse the shrinking don't come cheap."

"I-I-I ain't telling you anything!" That might have been more convincing if she didn't see his teeth chattering through his mask, "I ain't a snitch, Spider-Woman! Trust's the only thing we got left in this business!"

"Hermann, seriously, I'm asking nicely here-"

"Go to hell!"

Gwen breathed in through her nostrils as a wave of irritation washed through her. Alright, if that was how he wanted to play, "Alright, fine, I was hungry anyway."

It took a second for the words to register and as soon as they did he looked like he was gonna have a panic attack then and there, "Y-You stay away from-"

"Honestly, you know how hard it was to hold back a year ago? Only reason I didn't was cause you were so helpful." She raised her right hand to her face and made a show of casually checking her nails while Shocker's struggling worsened. She felt kinda guilty, but she wasn't really gonna touch the guy. Cap once told her that making the interrogatee think about what  _could_  happen to them was worse than what you actually  _would_  do to them.

"I...I can't tell you, I'll be-"

"Man, it's been a while since I got a good snack. I mean, people are always taking pics so I could never sneak off a bite, but now? Well, look around you, buddy, there's no one here." She made a wide gesture to the deserted rooftop. Shocker's breathing worsened when she put a hand on her chin and leaned in closer to size him up, "Hmm, bit on the chewy side by the looks of you, but I've had worse. Say, you're not too attached to that hand, are you? I'm craving me some fingers-"

"Alright, alright, alright! I'll talk!" Shocker was full on hyperventilating now. She bit down her apology and stepped back, "Look, it's the same guy who busted us out before."

"You mean Hobgoblin." She'd tried to find leads on him over the past year and came up with zilch. It was always the same story - dead drops, friends of friends and agents who were nothing more than hired guns. Nothing to go on.

"Y-Yeah. See, he's makin' some moves. I heard through the grapevine that he's making friends with some out of towner called Scorpion."

"Yeah, I know the guy." Cindy'd want to know he was back in town. At least the deal was null and void now, "What's he got to do with Dyne particles?"

"You didn't hear it from me, but apparently he has an in at Dyne industries. Someone's smugglin' him some of those reverser growth particle things and he's making bank on it." Right...she needed to tell Wasp about that too. Last thing she wanted was a Godzilla sized White Rabbit or Bodega Bandit, "This job was supposed to pay back the cost of what it took to set us free."

"Well, at least you'll get free room and board again, Hermann. Heard those are going at a premium now." He grunted in annoyance, seemingly forgetting his previous fear. Good, she was actually feeling pretty bad about that, "I'll tell em to lighten up on you on your next trial for being such a good little boy."

"Look, would you just leave me alone? You being so close is giving me the heebie jeebies."

"Sure. And make sure to keep those hands clean from now on or I might be tempted to get a little snack next time we do this."

Shocker shuddered and she didn't get a chance to say she was just kidding before she heard more screams in the distance. That didn't sound good, "Wait here for the cops, Hermy. They usually pick up in an hour." Waving goodbye (and ignoring his calls to at least unbind his legs), she swung off into the source of the light while messaging both Cindy and Wasp with her free hand. Sooner they patched those holes the better.

The sight that greeted her made her pause. Crowds of screaming people and giant Lizards chasing after them. Now the kind of Lizards she was used to, though. These ones were gray in color and far smaller, resembling a regular human in height and stature if not for the dull scales and their oversized mouths. Most of them even still had hair and the remains of what looked like patient gowns.

_'Webster?'_

**'They aren't the same.'**

She was both relieved and frustrated to hear that. On the one hand it meant the Lizard serum wasn't being spread around again, on the other it meant she couldn't just cure these people like she did the others a year ago.

Gwen jumped into the fray. She webbed a nearby Lizard's jaw shut and snagged another's back when it tried to jump for a screaming woman, "Hey, none of that!" She landed, spun him around briefly then tossed him into the clustered group of Lizards, "Run!" She screamed at some of the still stunned crowd. The yell seemed to finally jolt them out of their shock and they continued their screaming retreat.

She rushed to the biggest cluster. Gwen made sure to hold her punches back to just what was needed. For all she knew these people were just victims like the poor people S.I.L.K kidnapped so it wouldn't do to hurt them needlessly.

"Come on, you guys, it's a Spider-Woman buffet!"

One of them managed to chomp on her shoulder. It didn't hurt, and she could've sworn the gray reptile's eyes widened when it suddenly found its mouth practically wired shut with a sticky black substance,  _'Thank you, Webster.'_  Her shoulder immediately healed itself as another Lizard tried to chomp on her arm. It had about as much luck as its friend did.

A few of the Lizards seemed to notice that she wasn't going down and tried to slip past her to the fleeing crowd. Gwen lashed her left arm out and made a makeshift clothesline out of a tentacle just before they passed. Most of them were hit in the face and fell back from the impact while a couple managed to duck under just in time to avoid faceplanting into the asphalt.

She twisted and aimed at their backs with her free hand before the bright light almost blinded her. Gwen shut her eyes and turned away automatically,  **'Careful, Gwen.'** Her body moved on its own and she flipped sideways just before one of the Lizards chomped down where her head was. Probably wouldn't have hurt her, but she didn't want slobber on her mask.

She landed on the ground and they kicked the closest Lizard's jaw before she turned back to the two that slipped past her, "...Huh." The two Lizards were knocked out and the figure standing above them was...hard to describe. He looked like he stepped straight out of a comic book: a dark green bodysuit that covered everything from the neck down with long blonde hair that reached almost all the way down to his waist. There were bright orbs of light all around him and his eyes were covered in a bright yellow glow that added an almost ethereal feel to him.

"Spider-Woman, watch out!" He flew past her and punched a charging Lizard right in the jaw.

"Thanks!" Snapping out of her short-lived shock, she focused her attention back to the remaining Lizards.

With the both of them it took no time at all to finish off the remaining half dozen Lizards. Gwen webbed the last one to the ground and wiped slobber from her knuckles. No deaths from either the Lizards or the innocent people. She'd consider that a victory, "Need to tell Wasp about these..." She knelt down to the closest unconscious man-reptile and frowned. The last thing they needed was someone trying to recreate the Lizard.

Hell, knowing Jameson he'd probably try to pin it on Peter, the ass.

"Spider-Woman?" She looked back and found blonde light guy staring at her with an undecipherable expression.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, thanks for the team-up." She pushed herself up to her feet and looked up at a nearby building. Cops were coming but she didn't need to stick around. Wasn't like giant rampaging Lizards needed proof for arrest, "I gotta go. Gimme a heads up if you need me to return the favor." That was how most team ups went, really. Initiative members tended to patrol either in teams or pairs and sticking around after a fight was pretty rare; mostly cause the last person who left was stuck talking to the cops and that took a while sometimes.

She'd made it to a far enough building before she heard him again, "Ah, wait!" She looked back just as he landed beside her. She had to admit, she kinda wished she could fly too. Web swinging was definitely a thrill, but floating through the air like Peter Pan sounded cool too.

**'I'm sorry for disappointing you.'**

_'That's not what I meant and you know it.'_ She rolled her eyes. Webster would probably use it to guilt trip her for more chocolate, "Oh, hey. What's up? Something wrong?"

"No, but..." He crossed his arms and considered his next words, "I was hoping we could chat. It's been a while since we've last conversed after all."

"Huh? We met before?" She definitely didn't remember someone who looked like they stepped out of an Amazingman comic.

"Oh, but of course. I have no doubt you wouldn't recognize me given my altered appearance." His long blonde hair shortened into a darker shade and the bright lights disappeared to expose a...vaguely familiar face, "It's nice to see you again."

"Uh, you too...Mr. Roxxon." Phew, dodged a bullet there. The last time she met the guy she distinctly remembered cussing him out for shit talking Peter before Tony Stark interrupted. She would've thought the guy would stay as far away from her after that, but the look on his face said 'no hard feelings', "I didn't know you were a Superhero. Didn't see you on the Initiative list."

"Yes, it's rather new." He chuckled.

"Huh...well, thanks again for the help. Like I said, if you need me to pay back the favor you just gotta ask. I'm good for it."

"Yes, I'm well aware." He chuckled again, "Actually, I was hoping to ask it of you now."

"Alright, shoot."

"I haven't actually registered with the Initiative yet due to how recently I gained these gifts, so could you please join me on patrol? With you vouching for me I won't be cast with suspicious glances." Huh, that seemed harmless enough. It still made her laugh sometimes that Spider-Woman was considered a good authority on character. Sometimes she still expected the curtain to fall and things to fuck her again.

"Fine by me. You wanna go on patrol? I still got some hours to kill." Peter said he was coming over in a few hours so until then she was good.

"Yes. Let's go."

It'd been a while since she patrolled with another person. Sure there was Kate and Cindy, but they tended to stick around to their own little haunts and only called for backup if villains tried to set an ambush. She and Roxxon wandered around aimlessly and stopped whatever crime they could. No more Supervillains for the rest of the day, at least, so it wasn't all bad.

It was close to 5 in the afternoon by the time she decided to call it quits, "Thirsty?" He nodded and she got two sodas from the closest vending machine. She tossed one to him and zipped up to a nearby skyscraper so she could watch the setting sun. She sat down on the edge of the roof and Roxxon sat close next to her. Gwen subtly scooted away; she liked her personal space and she didn't know the guy too well.

"A nice view," he said after a few seconds of silence.

"Yep." She needed to take Peter here sometime. Sure, she liked just spending time in the apartment, but it was nice to get out sometime. That and she missed their pizza dates.

"I'd like to thank you for helping me out today."

"It's cool. You helped me out and I helped you out. Tit for tat."

"Perhaps, but I am still grateful for showing me the ropes." The guy held himself up pretty well for a newbie. Somewhat clumsy, but who was she to judge on that? It took months of She-Hulk and Cap training her before she stopped relying on Bruce Lee films to fight and even then she still slipped back sometimes, "Perhaps we could meet again after this?"

"Sure. I'll give you my prioricard number." It was mostly used to call for SOS and tracking and a way to avoid getting spammed with messages. She still kinda regretted giving Gayle her phone considering the amount of spam messages she got.

"I was hoping to meet outside of patrol. Outside the masks, if you will."

"Oh..." She took a sip of her Professor Pop, "Well, I'm actually pretty testy about my secret identity." Kinda came with the whole 'hunted down for allegedly murdering her best friend for two whole years' thing.

"Ah...well, I assumed since I'd revealed my identity..."

"Yeah, sorry." It wasn't like she  _asked_ him to do that. She would've been fine with Will O' The Wisp (the name he introduced himself to citizens as), "I've got...trust issues." It wasn't a lie, at least. That was what Cindy's psychologist said.

"Aren't there others aware of your identity?"

"Sure, but I've been through a lot with them. I trust them."

"...And Spider-Man?"

Gwen raised a brow. Singling him out wasn't odd - blurting out 'I love you' on a live interview tended to do that - but it still annoyed her somewhat, "I trust him too." She finished off the last of her soda and took out a disposable copy of her prioricard, "Here, use this if you wanna team-up." She placed the card between them with a bit more force than necessary and pulled her mask back down.

She wanted to go home.

Roxxon looked like he wanted to say something else, but she was swinging away before he could get a word in. Gwen put him out of her mind and by the time she arrived back home her slight irritation had completely waned away. She swung into her room and shifted back into a more casual outfit as she made her way to the living room door, "Is that...bacon?"

Her face broke out in a smile when she opened the door and was greeted by Peter's with an honest to god apron hovering over the stove. The dinner table was filled to the brim with plated of most of her favorites, "Hey, Gwen." He turned back and gave her a small smile, "I got here a bit early so I thought I could cook something up."

"If you're trying to convince me that you're the best roommate ever, it's working." She sat down on the table while he grabbed some meat from a nearby plastic bag and began grilling, "Come on, let's eat."

"It's fine, you go ahead." He waved a hand through the air and she dug in after only some slight hesitation. Webster separated from her and landed on the table with a dull plop. She wasn't one for meat.

Gwen opened the fridge door with a quick web yank and frowned slightly when she saw the chocolate was gone, "Hey, you seen any chocolate bars around? Coulda sworn I still had some left over."

"Oh, I used them for something." He gestured a lightly boiling pot. Webster whined and rubbed up against her hands, "I got this recipe while I was over in France. Place gives me nightmares, but they know how to use chocolate." He let the meat fry and grabbed the pot full of chocolate along with a plate full of cookies and placed them on the table next to Webster, "I'm not one for sweets, so I hope it's alright."

As soon as he opened the lid and exposed the the light brown concoction inside Webster immediately perked up. She peeked over the edge of the still-hot pot and gingerly picked up one of the cookies to dip it inside. Gwen could practically feel the symbiote salivating as she pulled the treat out and absorbed it into her goopy form.

All was quiet for a few seconds before Webster suddenly spoke up.

**"Gwen, marry him."**

"Wh-What?" She nearly choked on her roast beef.

**"You have my approval. Marry him. Actually, please do."**  Webster grabbed two chocolate covered cookies and gorged them down hungrily,  **"But he must make these every day. No exceptions."**

"I guess the kid likes em." Peter laughed under his breath and his cheeks were slightly red. She wanted to see more of that, "I've picked up a few other things. I'll see what I can do."

He grabbed the grilled meat and set it down on a large plate before sitting across from her. This was...nice. Just the three of them eating (or nibbling, in Peter's case) and talking about anything that came to mind. Gwen couldn't stop herself from giggling when Webster draped herself over Peter's arm and started begging for more chocolate. He looked honestly confused on what he should do.

"You know, we never really talked about where you'd be rooming," she said conversationally, "Assuming MJ doesn't move out, I mean."

"I thought I'd take the couch." He set Webster down gingerly and tried to ignore her 'purring', "Seemed obvious enough."

"Yeah, well...why don't we room together? It might be a bit of a tight fit, but we're both pretty flexible."

"Oh, um...well, I wouldn't be against it." It intrigued her how easily he could shift. He could aim a gun at someone's head without flinching but the thought of even going out on a date made him a hesitant, blushing mess. Was it wrong for her to want to see more of it? For most of the time she knew him he'd always kept up the mask of Spider-Man even after he grew to trust her. Seeing his red cheeks and nervous smiles felt like he was finally letting her see more of Peter Parker.

Gwen knew why, of course. Ever since he woke up in that alley he'd barely had a chance to be anything  _but_  Spider-Man. There were times when they could both let go of the masks, but with monsters like Murderdock and that bastard Jack it was hard to let your guard down for more than a few seconds. It was the main reason why she'd been so insistent on him attending ESU. He needed a life outside of the mask.

She touched his thigh with her foot and almost grinned at his surprised look, trying to ignore her own burst of embarrassment. She wasn't what you could call flirty. She knew how it worked, but Betty and MJ were better at the 'game' than she ever was. It wasn't like it mattered much - she didn't care about dating for years and her relationship with Peter could hardly be considered normal.

"I...I'm going somewhere in a bit." He coughed.

"Oh? Too bad." She dragged it up lazily up his thigh while Webster looked between them. It didn't take long for her to figure out what was happening and she immediately jumped to the couch and turned on the tv to prepare to drown them out, "You gotta leave right now?"

"Well...I guess I can stay for a bit longer." Peter smiled back at her.

An hour later and Peter was getting ready to leave. Gwen smiled and sat up, the blanket covering her bare chest, and playfully smacked his bottom, "Good luck saving the city." He rolled his eyes in amusement and was out before she knew it. She sat at the bed for a few more seconds before pushing herself up and stretching out her arms above her head. Good thing MJ wasn't around to see her.

She put on a loose shirt and some underwear before she joined Webster in the living room/kitchen. The little blob was actually licking the bottom of the bowl of Peter's chocolate fondue thing.

"Okay, Webs, we need to talk." Gwen stuck her hand out and Webster immediately jumped to rejoin her. The two of them went to the bathroom and Gwen turned on the faucet, "You've been pigging out way more the past couple months. What the hell's going on?" She splashed some water on her face and let the cool water jolt her awake. Maybe she could get some patrolling done again-

**'I...think I'm what humans call pregnant.'**

Well... _shit_.

* * *

Lana yawned and adjusted her place on the waiting room chair while Gabe checked something on his phone next to her. All around them were a few other milling patients and nurses passing from room to room tending to the patients.

She still didn't like hospitals. It seemed like every time she went here things went to absolute shit - that fucker Kasady, that electric bitch with a god complex...at this point she expected it to get nuked from orbit the second she took a step inside. Nothing so far, but it'd only been about an hour. She wasn't counting her shitty luck out just yet.

She adjusted her legs to get some blood back into them and sagged in her seat. The only reason she and Gabe were here was to visit that girl, Aracely. The hospital wasn't able to dig up any papers on her - surprise, surprise...not - and as the person who brought her to the hospital she felt sort of responsible to make sure she was alright in lieu of any other family. Gabe came along too, mostly cause Lana couldn't speak of a lick of Spanish.

Thankfully most of the people didn't recognize her without her costume. There was a guy about a couple of years older than her who asked for an autograph, which she reluctantly agreed to so they wouldn't cause a scene. A little boy in a patient gown who looked about 6 or 7 stared at her as he passed and she grinned and waved at him, which caused him to laugh. Kids were easier most of the time.

"Looking for your new target, Reyes?" She asked softly enough that no one else could hear.

"N-No, just checking the news..." he mumbled. For a guy who snuck into criminal hideouts he definitely didn't have the ego to come with it.

"Hey, cheer up. If it weren't for you me and Anya wouldn't have found those assholes." She clapped his back encouragingly.

"It was nothing, you guys did all the work..."

"...Yeah, we really need to work on your confidence issues."

A nurse came up to them both and told them to go to room 307. Lana went inside with Gabe and the younger girl on the bed immediately perked up, " _Ah mi héroe!_ " Well, she didn't need Gabe to tell her what that meant. The doctor at her side - rotund blonde man who introduced himself as Donald Meland a night prior - smiled at them both and continued monitoring the girl's heart rate as she babbled, " _Te escuché peleando en la caja. ¡Parecías tan enojado!_ "

"She said she heard you fightig while she was in the crate and that you sounded angry."

"Yeah, well, they were a bunch of assholes." Gabriel didn't translate it back for her, "So...are you alright now?" That one he actually did.

" _Sí. Deshidratación, inanición, pero sin heridas._ "

"She says that she was hungry and thirsty, but apart from that no wounds." That must've been what the IV was for.

"Ms. Baumgartner, could I speak to you outside?" Dr. Meland said. She nodded and followed him out while Gabriel continued to chat with the girl, "Given what you told us before, I assume it's fair to say that this is your first meeting with her and you had no prior relations?"

"Yeah, why?"

"That...makes things a bit more difficult." He frowned. Not a good sign, "We couldn't find papers on her the night prior, but that's to be expected given the rushed state she was in. We looked closer and searched up her full name on every known database we had and came up with nothing. I think it's fair to say that Ms. Penalba is not an American citizen."

"She was in a fucking cargo crate. I coulda told you she wasn't from here." Lana scoffed, "What about it?"

"It concerns what'll happen after she recovers." His expression was troubled, "Ignoring the cost of treatment since it wasn't as expensive as we expected, she has no place to stay. She has no papers and when asked about family she claims to not remember anything outside of her own name. This isn't that shocking due to the traumatic experience she just underwent, but it does make things...difficult."

"Difficult how?"

"The most likely scenario is she's going to be deported," he said grimly. It was clear from his expressions and tone that he was just as put off as she was, "No papers, no memory...there won't be much mercy for her once this is reported to the authorities."

"The fuck? If she doesn't remember anything then how do you guys know where to even put her?!"

" _We're_ not doing anything of the sort. We're a hospital, nothing more and nothing less. I'm simply telling you the most likely sequence of events." They both looked back into the room. Aracely was smiling and talking to Gabe. She stopped and waved at them happily, which Lana forced herself to return, "We'll do our best to accommodate her. I simply thought you should know since you have the most investment in her well-being so far."

"Yeah, thanks..." Lana turned away from Aracely and scowled, "Look, I'll pay for her hospital bills, don't worry." Least she'd be using her 'daddy's' allowance for something worthwhile. If he didn't like it, tough, "Look, I'll...thanks for telling me."

Lana shouldn't have cared. Sure she could feel bad, but she'd already saved the poor girl from being pimped out to some depraved fuckhead who'd use her like she was a sex doll to get his dick wet. She'd done enough.

_Then again_ , the nagging fucking voice at the back of her head said,  _Pete shouldn't have cared about you either after he saved you._

"Something wrong, Lana?" Gabe asked.

"Nothing, just...talked to the doctor about some things."

" _... Estas preocupado por mi?_ " Lana shook her head at Gabe; she didn't want him to translate anymore.

"Yeah...hey, listen I'm gonna take off, yeah? I'll come visit you tomorrow." She needed to clear her head and think of something, even if she already knew it was pointless. The only one who could do anything for her was William, and she'd be fucked if she was gonna put that girl not being deported into the streets on his choice. She waited for Gabe to leave before she started walking out.

" _Estaré bien. Por favor cuídate, Lana. Las cosas no terminarán aquí._ _Para cualquiera de nosotros_."

Lana stopped. Did she ever tell Aracely her name? She shook her head. She was just being paranoid.

She went her separate ways with Gabe and took the all too familiar train to Queens. She still went here sometimes to hang out with Gayle when she had some free time. Pete told her he was having dinner at the Watsons and invited her to come along. She accepted. Besides, it'd be nice to see him again.

Lana stopped when she saw the familiar figure sitting on the bench close to the drop off. He looked different, but then again so did she. Puberty hit her 'like she was a cheap hooker and her pimp had mommy issues', to use her mom's joke. She was practically as tall as him now (though that wasn't exactly hard...) and she'd lost the last of that baby fat and replaced it with lean muscle. That one she placed more on the Initiative training, though. Their drill sergeant could be a right bastard about keeping them in shape.

"Hey, kid."

"Don't call me that."

She hugged him. He stumbled slightly at the sudden embrace but quickly stabilized himself. Lana laughed and pressed her face against the crook of his neck, ignoring the the tickle of the stubble on her skin. It'd been a whole year. A whole year since she could actually talk to him through anything outside of a cellphone screen; and even that was hit or miss. Some of the places he went to didn't have the best cell signals.

They separated eventually and walked side by side to the Watson house as he filled her in, "You remember Mary, right? Your friend's older sister?" She nodded, "Well, she's been having some...issues with that thing on her." She nodded again. She didn't know as much about that as much as them, but it didn't take a genius to figure out Kasady's monster wasn't nice, "I was hoping that we could help her out."

"Pete, I really don't think either of us are psychiatry material." She laughed under her breath.

"Me either, but I think we can still help." Lana shrugged and rang the doorbell. Fine, how bad could it be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Making some progress. I originally planned for the second segment to be Cindy focused but I switched to Lana to make the POV changes more balanced. Next chapter (after possibly Frog-Man) will focus on Mary Jane and either Gwen or Cindy. Something tells me Gwen's bombshell at the end is gonna complicate the living arrangements between the three.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. More a question, but for the people who read through all the romances did you guys prefer Noir/Gwen - strained, prone to arguments and the pair tried to change the other - or Original Noir/Shadowcat - casual, violent and less judgmental. I tried to write the relationships as foils (Laura's presence helped) to one another and I'm curious which one people preferred.
> 
> 2\. So...do you guys want more of the mushy stuff like the end of the Gwen segment or do we hold off now?


	6. These guys need sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a Frog-Man chapter, sad to say. I want to get through to MJ's first modelling gig and Peter's first attempt at attending a lecture before we get to that greatness. It'd also line up with the current timeline since Frog-Man meets Gwen and Peter on campus.
> 
> The tone of this chapter is kinda all over the place. It makes some sense why, but people might still be confused. Also, I've been getting some reviews asking for where Shadowcat and Laura are. I'll be honest, I hadn't planned to make them show up again cause, similar to Helen Stacy, their role in the story is done and they have little to no plot role anymore.
> 
> Still, ask and ye shall receive. I put a segment in to show where they are. Probably doesn't make sense, but that's what happens when it's so slapdashed.
> 
> I'm also looking at Lana's future segments and...wow, it ended up being way more anime than I planned, mostly on the love triang relations front. So far we have: Lana has a crush on Noir and slight favor to Gabriel, MVP and Gabriel both like Lana, Anya likes MVP, MVP and Sue are being pressured to dating for the sake of good publicity despite just being friends, Sue is neurotic about keeping her friendship with Lana and likes Gabriel, and Aracely just randomly reads their minds and blurts it out to make it uncomfortable.
> 
> I should probably tone it down. Don't want this story to get too silly...
> 
> Side Note - I can't believe I have to say this, but here we are. No, Gabriel Reyes is not freaking Reaper. He's a canon character in Marvel. Look him up on the wiki.

Cooking with her mom was one of the new things MJ did to clear her mind. She was kind of ashamed to admit that she hadn't spent much time with her till a year prior. She was always so busy with the band and coming up with new songs and finding gigs that there were days she just screened her mom's calls. It was probably part of the reason why she'd believed her piece of shit dad was actually changing.

She cut through the raw meat and looked idly at the cookbook. It was some sauced chicken recipe that she couldn't even pronounce,  ** _'Hey, I'm hungry,'_  **Crimson said. Mary Jane rolled her eyes. It always did this. It wasn't enough for it to just take some off her plate. No, it wanted fresh meat; and by fresh it meant raw. Double points if there was still blood on it.

_'Can't you just wait?'_

_**'Sure, but don't expect me to be quiet.'** _

Mary Jane groaned and, after making sure her mom wasn't looking, cut out a decent sized chunk of wet meat and stuffed it into her mouth. It didn't taste foul - actually it tasted pretty good - but she still felt like the kid sneaking off licks from the cookie batter when her mom wasn't looking. She cut out another piece and ate it quickly just before her mom turned around.

"Need some help, MJ?"

"Mm- no, I'm good." She gave her an awkward thumbs up and tried to ignore the heat on her cheeks.  _That_  was too close.

**_'I don't get why you're being so jumpy,'_  **Mary Jane ignored it,  ** _'It's just some chicken. Not like you're eating stuff from the people you kill; not that'd be against that either-'_**

_'Crimson, I swear to god!'_ She just barely held herself back from growling while the red bastard laughed. She knew the damn thing was just trying to rile her up, but it was hard to ignore when it knew exactly where to poke and prod. Another unfortunate side-effect from the fact that it was in her head 24/7.

30 minutes passed and Crimson groaned,  ** _'This'd go faster if you just used me. I can even pretend that chicken is a person.'_**

_'Not happening. I know where those hands have been.'_

She continued cutting and snuck off another bite to keep Crimson quiet. Wasn't like Peter ate a lot anyway so it wasn't a big deal if there were a few bites missing. She put the chicken in the pot and wiped her hands, "Gayle, you done setting up?" she called out.

"Yep!" She saw a thumbs up from the couch before Gayle focused her attention back on the laptop. Probably another fanfic, though she'd been branching out to making comics commissions. It paid decently well, "You sure Gwen isn't coming along?"

"For the last time, no. If you wanna visit Gwen just go across the street." Mary Jane brought a hand through her hair and breathed in deeply. Gayle's crush on Gwen hadn't abated at all the past year and Peter leaving seemed to put the thought in her head that Gwen was now open. A lot of her fans did when they realized he was gone and Gwen admitted as much in a later interview. Nevermind the fact that she didn't say anything about breaking up and that she expected him back sooner or later.

"Eh...I don't wanna. Her new mom scares me." Well, she could agree with that. Jessica Jones definitely had a bad case of RBF (resting bitch face).

Thankfully the doorbell rang and saved her from discussing her best friend's strangely packed love life. Mary Jane opened the door with Gayle in tow and smiled when she saw Peter with his sister behind him, "Hey, Tiger." She let him past while Gayle high fived Lana and started talking animatedly about something the latter looked embarrassed about. She definitely caught 'Punished Spider' in there, though.

"Welcome you two." Her mom smiled politely, which both Peter and Lana reciprocated. Lana'd come over before, but this was the first time Peter had been here since the time he an Gwen rescued her, "I heard you were back in town."

"Guessing you saw Gwen then..." Gayle muttered.

"Sorry to disappoint you." He gave her younger sister a wry smile and she harumphed.

They all sat at the table and ate the food. Mary Jane smiled and made pleasant conversation. It all felt so fake. None of them aside from Peter knew. Knew that they were in the table with a serial killer who hunted down human garbage. Then again, would anyone but Gayle and her mom even care? She knew Peter and Lana were friends with that Bullseye guy before he bit it.

"So how's the exciting life of an Initiative Hero?" Gayle asked Lana. Her tone was light and teasing, but she knew her sister enough to catch the undercurrent of jealousy. It wasn't a surprise - one of her best friends was a hero, her crush across the street was Spider-Woman and even her own sister got powers. Nevermind the fact that said powers come with an annoying little voice in her head that never shut the hell up.

**_'You love me.'_ **

_'Yeah, you're my favorite parasite...'_

**_'Parasite?!'_**  Mary Jane covered her mouth with one hand and smirked. Very little pissed Crimson off more than being accused of being all take and no give. Apparently even murderous blobs had pride.

Powers definitely weren't all they were cracked up to be, that was for damn sure, though according to Betty incidence of 'power envy' - which she needlessly pointed out wasn't the same as penis envy - had been at an all time high recently. Apparently the Initiative showed off a brand new world and now everyone wanted in. It was the celeb craze for a new age.

"Same old, same old." Gayle pouted at Lana's casual dismissal. Mary Jane needed to talk to her about her little green streak before it festered. Last thing they needed was another Watson living up to her green eyes.

**_'Maybe she'd appreciate what I have to offer more than you...'_ **

_'Touch her and I'll kill you.'_

**_'Why don't we ask her?'_ **

_'No.'_

She ignored everything else it tried to say for the next hour. Gayle and her mom washed the dishes while she went up to get some air. Literally. Mary Jane opened the attic window that led to the roof and breathed in the cold, polluted night air. She still came up here sometimes to clear her head. Sometimes she even caught Jessica or Gwen's dad in the morning and said hi.

It was mercifully quiet for half an hour before the window opened again and Peter peeked out with a small smile on his face, "Evening, Mary. Any reason you're at the roof right now?"

She rolled her eyes lightly, "Just needed a place to sit. 'Sides, it's my roof. I didn't creep in like a certain someone did a year ago."

"Right. Well, move over then."

He stepped out and she offered him a hand that he took gratefully. Peter sat down next to her and looked at the abandoned Parker household with a small frown. Ben and May were in France last she checked, but she had no doubt Peter still blamed himself for the two of them being forced out of New York. It was just how he and Gwen were.

And then, apropos of nothing, he suddenly said, "I talked to Summers last night." She almost forgot about that lame nickname of his.

"Oh?" She kept looking ahead to mask her expression, "Guessing it wasn't a date?"

"Well, maybe? Not sure how much she likes museums," he snarked, "What about you? What happened with your did?"

"Dad of he year got himself into some trouble." She could've left it at that. For some reason she kept going, "Borrowed money from loansharks and now he needs someone to pay his bills for him. I volunteered." Better than getting those 'businessmen' on Gayle and her mom. She knew Philip Watson he would throw his own ex-wife and daughter under the bus if he could.

"...How much is it?"

"2000 bucks." Not much in the grand scheme of things, but it was a hell of a lot for a drunk whoremonger who spent more of the day drunk than sober.

"Hmm, I could-"

"No, no, no." She put a finger on his lips and narrowed her eyes, "I know Gwencent's fucking loaded and you can get the money, but my dad is my problem, not yours. I can handle it. Besides, I already got a modeling gig offer. 500 bucks upfront and more if the boss likes what I offer."

"That much? That doesn't sound suspicious to you?"

"It's from Roderick Kingsley. From what I read up on him he's the kind of guy to buy a diamond toilet seat." Well, he bought a solid gold lamborghini, but close enough. Webswinging was better, "Trust me, I'm good. Besides, it might take my mind off my...other gig."

And just like that they were back into it. Mary Jane pursed her lips while Peter made a noise in the back of his throat, "You said you'd been doing it for months now." She nodded, "Summers said you two tried to control it. What did she mean by that?"

"Exactly that," Mary Jane said softly, "We spent almost half a year just...trying not to kill people." She didn't tell Gwen, though whether it was pride, fear or something else she couldn't say, "Norah helped me through the worst of it. Wasp tried too, but there wasn't much she could do. It wasn't something that could be fixed with more injections and tests."

"Then what was it?"

"It was..."

Crimson jutted out of her shoulder suddenly,  ** _"Your denial."_** Its wide smile used to make her shiver in fear. Now she just felt annoyed,  ** _"You just tried to deny that you didn't want the same thing as me."_**

"That's not true..." She looked away.

"What do you mean by that?" Peter asked Crimson softly.

**_"She's scared."_** Crimson honest to god cackled. It sounded so off hearing her own distorted voice coming out of the thing's mouth,  _ **"The longer we stay together the more our symbiosis deepens. It's been a year since you left, boytoy. My partner and I should've been joined at the hip inseparably for now, but the final thread of our bond is severed."**_

"I don't blame her. You're nothing like Gwen's partner."

**_"Yes, I'm far less spoiled for chocolate."_**  It surged forward and stopped less than an inch from Peter's face. He didn't flinch at all,  ** _"She fights me because she's scared. Scared of what will happen when our bond becomes permanent."_** This time it was in front of her face. Mary Jane flinched,  _ **"So she'll deny and cry that she hates what she does even if the power and 'justice' makes her happy. Because she doesn't want to be a monster."**_

"Shut up..." The comeback was far weaker than she would've wanted, "I'm not a monster..."

**_"The only one calling you that is yourself."_  **Crimson hummed, ** _"Who cares if you kill people? You don't see the boytoy there calling himself a monster and he's killed more than you. This world is twisted. Murderers are called heroes as long as the people who lose their lives are the ones no one misses. I'm fine with killing those, so why fight it?"_**

"Because I can't trust you!" Mary Jane hissed, "How the hell do I know you'll just be fine with that forever? Because you say so? You and that bastard Kasady killed  _hundreds_ of people. Am I supposed to just trust that you're suddenly okay now because you said so? Go to hell!"

Crimson looked honestly  _offended_  by that, _ **"I've helped you so many times now! How long do I have to keep doing it before you decide I'm not planning to betray you?!"**_

"Gee, maybe when I forget the time you tried to make me kill Gwen and rape Peter!"

_**"Please, that was all you! I barely even had to nudge you were so desperate for him-"** _

She wrapped both hands around its neck to (try to) strangle the damn thing. For anyone outside looking in it might've looked hilarious, like a Simpsons sketch gone wrong. In truth she felt an almost blinding rage and it took all she had to not rip Crimson straight off her shoulder and leave a nasty hole in the process. Crimson was the same and tried to bite at her face, growling all the while.

It was Peter who broke them apart, "Enough. This is getting us nowhere." He grabbed her shoulder with one hand and Crimson's snake-like body with the other and pulled them apart harshly, "Hey, whatever your name is now. You said that you were fine with your current arrangement. Is that true?"

Crimson glared at her as it hissed,  _ **"Yes."**_

Peter pursed his lips, "...It's telling the truth." She looked up at him in disbelief, "Don't look at me like that. I'm not saying you should trust it, but it's not lying when it says that it's fine keeping this arrangement going."

_**"Death is death. Innocent or guilty, humans beg and cry in their final moments all the same."** _

"And what happens when I don't want to kill anymore?"

Crimson  _laughed_ ,  ** _"Like you'd ever stop. You complain about the killing all you want, but your sense of_  justice- _"_** It said the word with a disturbing amount of glee,  _ **"-won't let you. Remember that woman we saved from getting cut up by her husband? Or how about those little girls when we sliced out that pimp's eyes? What was that movie line? It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it."**_

"This isn't a fucking movie..." she muttered pathetically. Mary Jane couldn't deny it. The thought of killing so many did still make her squeamish and give her bad dreams, but thinking about all the people she saved - how worse off they would've been if she wasn't there - made her feel...

It made her feel good.

"You know Wasp said I might be immortal," Mary Jane said suddenly. Peter didn't say anything as she tucked her knees into her chest.

**_"Immortality is unlikely. We'll probably live much longer than everyone around us, though."_** Crimson said almost conversationally.

"That's not the point! How long can we keep doing this, huh? I want to do other things besides killing people till eventually I slip up and get a shot through the head."

_**"We'd probably survive bullets easily. Besides, if you want to go back to that band of yours that's easy enough to fix."** _

"... _What?_ " Mary Jane looked at Crimson with what must have been an ugly and murderous look on her face, "The hell do you mean an easy fix?! I've tried to get back in the band for a year and nothing's worked!"

**_"Because you resisted the symbiosis."_  **Crimson looked at her like  _she_  was the moron,  ** _"Why do you think Stacy has no problems? Or why you can't control our powers as well? Our bond is weakened by your reluctance so it's much easier to separate us. A proper symbiosis between host and symbiote would make it much harder for even your terrible singing to separate us."_**

"Terrible si- oh, that's rich coming from the parasite!"

**_"Don't call me a parasite!"_ **

They probably would've attacked each other again if Peter hadn't spoken up, "We're going nowhere with this. That thing isn't lying, hasn't since it showed up. Still, that doesn't mean you're wrong not to trust it. It hasn't exactly done much to endear itself to you." Yeah, understatement of the millennium right there.

Still, the thought of being able to go back to the band...it was definitely tempting. She didn't even care about playing gigs and becoming famous from it anymore. She just wanted to go back to the old days when they played in her mom's garage and she stayed up all night thinking up lyrics and the beat to go with them. As much as she complained and Gwen ditched those were the best parts of the past few years.

"...Could you help me?" she asked softly.

"With what?"

"With...this." She waved a hand through the air, "I'm not good with the whole vigilante hero shtick and I can't ask Gwen."

"What about that Initiative thing or that offer from the Avengers? Why not go there?"

"Sure. I'll go soon as you turn in  _your_ papers."

"...Point." He laughed under his breath and looked down. Her hand almost reached out to cup his face and make him face her again but she held it in. He was with Gwen, and even after she spent the last night killing half a dozen people she still found the idea of hurting either of them by trying to do anything with her feelings to be repellent. Gwen had made her thoughts on it very clear, after all.

Sadly, Crismon didn't feel the same.

_**"Ugh, your hormones taste awful."**  _Peter attention snapped back to her and her face turned an unflattering shade of red. This was not how she wanted his attention,  _ **"Just kiss him and be done with it. He won't know you like him otherwise-"**_

"You damn-" It retreated back into her shoulder, laughing all the while. She reached out futilely to strangle the thing again and did her utter damndest to ignore Peter's stare at her side. Eventually she couldn't keep it up and turned to face him. Was it a good or bad thing that his cheeks were slightly red too? "That's...

"Um...well, that-"

"I...sorry."

"It's...It's alright. No need to apologize."

He knew Crimson wasn't lying because of that sixth sense of his. Mary Jane shut her eyes tightly and cursed out Crimson mentally. All it got her was a mocking laugh. Why the hell couldn't she have fallen for Felicia or something? That would've been classic, the two band rivals who ended up together. But no, instead she had to fall for her best friend and said best friend's boyfriend.  _Fuck_.

Thankfully she didn't have to say anything. Mary Jane looked up and saw Gwen swing into her room and crawl inside without even looking at them, "What was that about?" she asked softly. Peter shrugged, stood and gestured to the to window, "...You gonna go over there?"

"In a bit. We...still need to talk about you needing help." Well, at least they weren't talking about her teeny tiny completely ignorable crush. Suck on that, Crimson.

**_'I'm not the one who wants to suck.'_ **

_'...I hate you.'_

"I'll get a new phone so we can talk discreetly. Least until you're comfortable letting Gwen know." Why did they feel like a couple planning an affair? "I'm...not good at this mentoring thing, so don't expect much."

"Seriously? I saw your little sis down there and she's one of the Initiative honor students." She snorted, "I think I'm in good hands."

They both made their way downstairs and pointedly did not talk about that bombshell Crimson just dropped. When they finally got down Lana and Gayle were on the couch with a sketchpad, "Oh, MJ! Check this out!" Gayle padded over excitedly and and shoved the sketchpad to her face.

The drawing was pretty crude, but she definitely saw what looked like the beginnings of a Superhero costume, "What's that about?" Mary Jane asked.

"Well, since you're a Superhero now we - mostly me, but still - thought that you needed a better costume besides that old Halloween get-up." Hey, she liked that costume... "We've been trying to come up with something better for Scarlet Spider. I can draw and Lana's a beast at designing costumes. Perfect match!"

"Huh..." Well...she could appreciate the effort, at least. She put a hand on her chin and inspected the drawing. The figure looked like it was wearing a bodysuit with different coloration on the thighs and hands along with a mini-jacket that only went up to the elbows and waist. It was definitely more eye-catching than her last suit, at least. She noticed that the paper around its head was more worn and full of sketch marks, "Hey, what's with the head?"

"Oh, we were trying to come up with a good mask design, but it's kinda hard. The mask kinda makes your head look like an egg." Gayle frowned.

"Well...why not a hood-"

"Nope," Lana said.

"-to keep my head cov...ered..." She looked at Lana, "Uh...why not?"

"Because hoods are stupid and impractical and anyone who wears em when fighting and jumping around is dumb." Yeah...she got the feeling impracticality wasn't the reason for it. She shared a look with Peter and shrugged helplessly.

**_'I like her. She knows idiocy when she sees it._ **

They spent the next couple of hours just tracing and re-tracing designs over and over, adding modifications - "Wait, your webs come out of your  _knuckles_? The fuck?" - when needed. By the end of the second hour they'd managed something basic and even managed to color it somewhat when they transferred it over to Gayle's tablet. She had to admit, this was fun. She could almost pretend she was just a regular hero.

Lana left after the finalized the costume and both MJ and Peter decided to go check in on Gwen. They were at the driveway when Crimson spoke up,  ** _'You seem chipper.'_**

_'Yeah, and now that you're talking that's gone.'_  She stopped. Peter didn't notice and went inside ahead of her, _'...What you said before, about me being able to play again. That was true, right?'_

**_'The boytoy said himself I didn't lie. I made a deal with you, I don't intend to break it.'_  **Long as she kept killing people, or at least maiming them and leaving them for the police. She wondered idly if she could ever be a real hero like Gwen and Kate and all those other people. Call her old fashioned, but she didn't want to be the Punisher or Moon Knight.

Shaking her head, she opened the front door and was immediately met with Peter sounding more scared than she'd ever heard in her life.

"What do you mean you're pregnant?!"

* * *

"Something wrong, sis?"

Cindy looked up from her Italian food and smiled at Albert next to her, "Uh, nothing. Just kinda tired."

"Are you sure? We can postpone this if you want?" Nari said from across the table. It came from genuine worry.

"No, I'm good. Trust me."

She was having dinner with her family...well, kinda family. After her evil twin was put behind bars permanently S.H.I.E.L.D put the Moons back to their house and even reimbursed them for all the damages. Cindy was prepared to cut off all contact then and there, but Albert refused. Maybe she wasn't his real sister, but she was definitely better than her and he didn't want to pretend she was just stranger.

Nari and Albert Sr. - cause they weren't her mom and dad no matter how much she might've wanted - were a bit more reluctant. So they did this every week or two - a 'family dinner' so they could just talk about their day and 'shoot the shit', as the kids say. Nari and Albert Sr. said they couldn't see her as a daughter, that the one they raised was a criminal and they had to live with that.

Still, that didn't mean she couldn't be the cool cousin or niece trying to bond with her extended family. It was more...honest than last time.

"Yeah, I saw you on a youtube vid earlier with Felicia Hardy. Working with popstars now?" Albert grinned.

"Ugh, don't remind me about her." Thankfully she'd managed to avoid having to pay another three grand. She'd asked for her consultation on the Matthews case and till that was solved they were stuck together, "How's things between you and Cissy?"

Albert was in ESU - the same ESU Gwen and the others studied at. She'd briefly considered joining them there before thinking better of it. Between regular heroics, working for the Freak Beat and being the janitor for the Avengers she already barely any time for herself. Even after this she'd get maybe two hours of sleep before another call from De Wolfe forced her back into another six hour stakeout.

"It's cool. We're taking it slow," Albert smiled.

"What about you, Cindy? Any recent dates that come to mind?" Albert Sr. asked.

"Eh...no, not really." She waved her forkful of lasagnia lazily, "Work keeps me busy, you know? Don't have time to date between everything." Not that she was much lacking in options. Not to toot her own horn or anything, but she was swiped right a decent amount of times...though at least a few thought she was 18 and lying about her age. It was funny and kinda flattering at first but then it just got annoying.

"I know it might seem odd coming from me, but maybe you should take a break?" Nari asked, "Every time we meet up you always seem so tired."

"Well, no one else is gonna do it." Cindy took a generous bite of her food and shrugged, "Had to pay three grand just to get Feli's help and that's on a case-by-case basis. Second I can start dating good and proper is when New York stops being a warzone."

She spent the next hour just chatting on whatever came to mind before promising to go to a Chinese place next week. Cindy waved goodbye to her not-family and sighed as soon as they were out of sight. Well, that was her daily allotted time of bonding done, "...I need a drink." She adjusted the plastic bag containing takeout and made her way to her usual store. It was the only place that didn't constantly card her.

"Home sweet home."

She flicked on the lights to her place and trudged to the couch, shucking off most of her padded clothes as she did. The place was spacious, well furnished and, best of all, completely hers with ownership fully paid for. A parting gift from S.H.I.E.L.D for all those months of exceptional service, or so Daisy said. They probably just wanted to endear themselves if (read: when) they needed her help for something again. She might've been a junior agent but superpowers were irreplaceable.

"TV on. Go to Webflicks." The voice command registered and she opened a can of beer as some teenage murder mystery came up. This was how she spent most of her nights nowadays - drinking corner store beer and binge watching shows she didn't even know the plots for. She drank down half the alcohol in one gulp and let out a relieved sigh. Thankfully she wasn't as much a lightweight as Gwen.

She woke up (she didn't even realize she'd fallen asleep) to the sound of the window being opened, "Not in the mood, Daisy..." The figure didn't stop in any way and when she looked up from her sideways position on the couch she found the younger woman grinning down at her, "...Today the day you finally plan to kill me?"

"Maybe next time." Cindy sat up and let Daisy sit where her head just was. The former(?) S.H.I.E.L.D agent grabbed one of the (warm) cans of beer and took a generous gulp, "Ugh, you need better stuff."

"I spent most of my money on a new cat." Daisy laughed while Cindy gave her a sideways glare. The tv was blaring out the new Spider-Woman webflicks series. It got good reviews, but she wasn't much a fan. Something about Gwen being some kind of model heiress just rubbed her the wrong way, "...I hate this show."

"Really? It's pretty good, but then again I'm only on episode 4." Daisy shrugged, "Maybe the Avengers series will be better? Spider-Woman doesn't have much of a supporting cast so far. I heard if it does well they'd give spinoffs to every character."

"I doubt it." Cindy smiled lopsidedly. Daisy was the closest thing she had to a friend nowadays outside of maybe Gwen and Kate. Initially she'd been sent to keep an eye on her and make sure that she wasn't revealing any of S.H.I.E.L.D's secrets. Her trial period ended a couple of months ago but Daisy still came by occasionally. She didn't mind; apartment was big enough for at least half a dozen people.

"So how are your cases."

"I got stabbed by a light dagger." Daisy raised a brow, "I think I've found whose been kidnapping those new Gifted."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Got away, though." Cindy clicked her tongue, "We're gonna talk to the guy they tried to kidnap tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath."

"Hmm, well, good luck."

"...You know you coulda paid Felicia's bill for me."

"Technically you don't work for S.H.I.E.L.D and it doesn't exist anymore. 'Sides, it's not like you gotta pay rent." She gestured to the apartment lazily, "I think you can afford some help."

"That's not the point..."

They chatted for a few more hours and by the time Cindy fell asleep and woke up again it was a half hour past 6 in the morning with Daisy (and her remaining beer) nowhere in sight. Cindy yawned, did her morning rituals and walked the familiar path to a not so familiar acquaintance.

She used her key to open the door to the modestly sized house, "Laura? Kitty?" She called out. No answer, expected. The senior Spider sighed and made her way to the couch where, sure enough, Laura was sleeping under a metric ton of blankets with the TV on. All around her were discarded bags of empty chips and bottles of soda. How such a tiny thing could pack in so much Cindy had no idea.

Sighing, Cindy turned off the television and picked up the trash to put it away properly. When she said she was a janitor she sometimes meant it literally. Shadowcat had, for whatever reason, asked her to check in on Laura every Monday morning because she was usually at work and couldn't do it. Apparently she'd chosen her cause 'she pissed her off less than everyone else on that team you got'. Considering the only time they ever talked was when they were stopping her evil twin, Cindy had no idea where Kitty got that idea from.

Still, they wouldn't have been able to stop Moon without the two of them, so she agreed.

"Hey, Laura, up." She shook the little girl's shoulder. Laura growled softly and faced away from her. Cindy had to admit, the girl was cute. Sure she could probably kill her in six seconds flat, but cute was cute, "Laura, it's time for school."

Cindy sat on her back. The little girl growled and batted her away in irritation before she sat up, rubbing her eyes and completely disregarding the cheese powder around her mouth and the soda stains on her oversized shirt, "...Good morning," Laura said. She sounded like she had to force the two words out.

"You too." She gestured to the kitchen, "Come on, I gotta get to work soon so let's have some breakfast. I got lasagnia."

She heated up the takeout on the microwave and hummed. She was only supposed to check in to make sure 'the munchkin was still breathing', to use Shadowcat's words. That quickly turned to being the kid's babysitter whenever she could, which wasn't as often as she might've liked. Shadowcat did her best, but without Spider-Man around she didn't have much clue on how to be a parent.

Laura didn't mind. Apparently Shadowcat was more a sister than a mother and she did try to bond with the younger girl the best way she could. It was just harder without Spider-Man there to act as a go-between. Cindy couldn't blame her - if your only father was Logan she probably wouldn't have been the best parent either.

"Here." She set a generous helping on the girl's plate and set it in front of her.

"Thanks, mom."

She paused, but only briefly, and took her seat across from the grade schooler. It wasn't the first time Laura had called her that. The first time there'd been an awkward silence for a few minutes, but after Cindy didn't say anything there was a mutual agreement between the two that they wouldn't talk about it period. Laura still called her that sometimes, but she kept to the agreement and didn't say anything.

It was hardly shocking. Spider-Man was the closest thing she had to a dad and he was still back in his world stopping World War II and she was the closest thing to a mom around. She wondered idly how Nari, Albert Sr. and Albert would react if they knew she kinda-sorta co-parenting a little girl with knife hands.

"Did you do your homework." Laura looked down at her food and didn't say anything, "Laura..."

"Math is hard," she whined, like it was the only explanation needed.

"Don't you have eidetic memory or something?"

"...Math is  _boring_." She was full on pouting now. Cindy had to resist the urge to reach across and pinch her cheeks. She wasn't  _that_  old, god damn it. 29 was still pretty young, "I won't use it anyway."

"Oh? How do you know that?"

"The older students always complain that they'll never use math when they get older. The teacher was also drinking in the toilet and crying about how her math degree amounted to 'a dead end job, a divorced husband and a kid who doesn't respect her'." Laura paused while Cindy stared owlishly, "She was surprised when she saw me and said I should never get married because 'men are all cocksu-'"

"O-kay! I think I gotta check up on your school..." She could probably get Daisy to give her some papers identifying her as a worried aunt. She had about as much of a resemblance to Laura as Shadowcat did, "Look, no matter how you feel about it you gotta do your homework. Grades aren't a joke."

"But..." Laura kicked her legs. A classic sign that she was going to fight tooth and nail to not do something.

"...Fine, how about this: you do all your homework without me telling you and get good grades and I'll buy you that puppy you want."

Laura's eyes widened, "Really? You are not lying?"

"You'd sniff me out if I was." Cindy waved a hand idly, "Can't stay here since Kitty doesn't like pets, but you know where my place is. I'll put him there and you can come visit whenever you want. How's that sound?"

Laura looked down and Cindy saw the epic struggle between doing her boring homework or slacking off. Eventually she let out a breath and nodded, "Fine, I'll do it," she said, sounding like  _she_  was doing  _Cindy_  a favor rather than the other way around, "I want one with a spot on its eye, like in that movie."

"Sure, sure." Cindy rolled her eyes.

They wasted till it was 8:00 and Laura had to go to school. She put on her backpack and stopped at the doorway, "Parent teacher day is coming soon. I asked Shadowcat but she said she can't be sure if she can come. Work...and she doesn't like talking to people." Cindy nodded, already seeing where it was going, "If need be could you-"

"Sure. Don't even need to ask."

Laura's beaming smile almost blinded her. Cindy waved goodbye and let out a soft laugh. This was one of the reasons why she almost had no free time, but she wouldn't change it for anything. Really, who needed a boyfriend when she was so busy? She didn't even really care.

Yes, that's just what she'd keep telling herself. It was easier than the harsh truth.

Her phone suddenly rang with Felicia's name on the screen, "Feli, what's u-"

"Come to the Washington Courthouse."

Felicia cut the call. Cindy looked down at the screen blankly and sighed. Why couldn't she ever say no? She'd probably agree if someone asked her to jump off a cliff. She changed into her costume inside and followed Felicia's gps (a requirement considering how dangerous their jobs were). Cindy found the former(?) cat burglar sitting at the edge of a distant building that allowed a perfect view of the courthouse.

"Morning to you too." Cindy said as she landed behind her. Felicia didn't say anything, "Uh...I'm not psychic, just so you know. So you're gonna have to-"

Felicia suddenly lashed out and, with nothing more than her spin-sense's slight tingle, the younger woman suddenly grabbed the front of her costume in a vice grip. Cindy moved automatically and grabbed the offending wrist with her right hand while the other unholstered her gun and aimed it at the thief's side, "Did you know?" Felicia asked, voice barely above a soft snarl.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Did. You. Know?" She tightened her grip, uncaring of the gun pressed against her side.

"I'm not psychic!" She pried Felicia's hand off - thank you, super strength - and pushed her back, "Maybe  _explain_ what you're asking before we have a stupid fight that gets us nothing but unneeded hospital bills."

Felicia took a deep, slow breath and, in lieu of saying anything else, pointed to the car surrounded by reporters. Cindy joined her on the edge of the roof and her grip on the gun tightened when she saw a familiar mop of red hair step out of the car while surrounded by men in suits.

"Is that..."

"That  _connard_  Murdock..." Felicia's scowl was murderous. Murdock stopped at the edge of the steps and, for a second, she thought he'd turn to where they were. Instead a (rather rough) push from the closest man in a suit made him continue. It was obvious by the cast on his right arm and the noticeable limb in his step that he wasn't in the best condition.

"I thought you guys killed him?"

"Those damned ninjas who were on 'our side' took him. I knew I shouldn't have trusted them." Her scowl somehow worsened.

"Right, well...I get why you're pissed, but why bring me over here?"

"Because you have access." Cindy gave her a questioning look and urged her to continue, "I heard it through your office mates. That  _diable_  is planning to confess everything in exchange for his worthless life. After that he'll be escorted back to his safehouse and you'll be part of the security force. Given the amount if dirty laundry he's airing out it's very likely there'll be at least a few attempts for targeted revenge."

"First time I heard of this." Not that she was surprised. She really needed an intern, "Still doesn't explain why you called me over."

"You're going to help me kill him."

Cindy raised a brow, "Right, and maybe next you want me to break into supermax and kill Red Skull's daughter." She shook her head, "I'm not exactly happy that guy's still breathing, demon or no, but I'm not gonna put myself in prison for it."

"I'm not asking you to pull the trigger." Felicia scoffed, "You'll escort him to his penthouse. The other guards will be easy enough to deal with, but I'm not foolish enough to think that I can fight you."

"So...you're asking me to look away when you do it?"

"Yes."

"Hmm..." Cindy crossed her arms and looked down at the courthouse. Technically speaking if she failed she'd get a reprimand, but if they had no proof she was colluding then that was the only punishment she'd get, "...Fine, only on the condition that you put on a disguise so no one knows it's you. I also want something exchange: once this happens you stop charging me so goddamn much for your help. I need all the help I can get and you're the best I've got."

"Deal." She said without hesitation. Felicia smiled, "Now...let's make sure that monster is put down for good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it. Mary Jane's making some progress on what she wants to do with herself, Cindy's a triple shifter who never gets any sleep and Felicia's planning to assassinate a now very human Matt Murdock. Oi vey.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. For people who want more 'Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson' segments, please put in any topics you think he should cover. I'll find a way to twist them around so he blames Gwen but I need topics for him to twist.
> 
> 2\. Bit early, but who do you guys think should get the new symbiote Gwen's 'birthing'? So far the prime candidates I have are Norah and Cindy, but in-universe both are very reluctant to accept and will only do it if there are no other options. Especially Cindy who doesn't want a second voice in her head.
> 
> And no, Peter is not an option. Spider-God is possessive, 'member?


	7. Morning Hangover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, so I got a sudden surge of 'Laura!' votes for the new symbiote host. Ironic, considering the only reason Laura's even here in the first place and awkwardly crammed into Cindy's segment was because readers kept asking about her. Similar to Helen Stacy she wouldn't have had any sort of plot importance in the original plans, so having her be a symbiote host is a giant bump up in role. Guess people really want a smol, bladed and tentacled murder machine.
> 
> Still, we'll see who the new host will be in the future. The baby isn't exactly coming next chapter and maybe the upcoming Ghost Spider 7 tomorrow will give me some ideas.
> 
> Speaking of chapters, this will be the last slice of life one and we can finally get back to some freaking plot! Sorry for everyone who got bored so far, we'll finally tackle some of the juicy stuff in the next update :D
> 
> ...Of course, the next planned update is either the Mayday omake chapter or the segment about this story's true hero and savior, Frog-Man. Depends where we end up.
> 
> Oh, and for those asking about who the father for the new symbiote is - clearly it's Dog. That was obvious from the start.

_J Jonah Jameson: Now, I've made my thoughts on various subjects clear and I never restrained myself. I wholly believe that you are entitled to your own opinion and no one can say otherwise._

_Except, of course, when those opinions are WRONG! Take this 'fan site', for example. Youths glorifying criminals like Spider-Woman and propping her up as some kind of role model! It's sickening! How everyone can remain blind to what a MENACE she is I'll never understand!_

_And it's bad enough that a bunch of teenagers do it - at least I expect them to make stupid decisions - but now we've got actual adults getting in on this! A Spider-Woman tv show?! A Spider-Woman video game?! Spider-Woman PLUSHIES?! This is WROOONNNGGG! Why are we praising her?! Are we praising killers like the Jack-o-Lantern?! No, then why are we doing it for Spider-Woman?! It's insane!_

_Let's not even start on those 'Spider Worshipers'! Those bunch of crazies actually idolize that murderer Spider-Man even after everything he did! Now I've heard some claims from people that these masked menaces actually do good, but how do you know they aren't faking the entire thing? What possible reason could someone have to run around in masks if they weren't just crazy?!_

_The man leading this group must be some kind of deranged maniac who enjoys the idea of making trouble for everyone else! This young man, whoever he is, needs_ help _. It's clear he wasn't raised right and whoever parented him needs to be held accountable for raising such a twisted individual. Whoever you are, you have my sympathy and I hope whoever messed up in raising you pays for their screwed up values!_

_Now, you wanna talk about_ real  _heroes I can tell you about my son-_

* * *

Pregnant. Gwen was pregnant.

That was the first thought Mary Jane had when she woke up to the all too familiar roof of her bedroom the next day. The events of last night were still a blur, but she remembered the general details. Apparently it wasn't Gwen who was pregnant, it was Webster, and there was no actual father. Something about symbiotes reproducing asexually like some kinds of jellyfish.

Honestly, she didn't even want to think about it for a lot of reasons. Instead she went down, ate and changed into the outfit she'd prepared the night prior. Crimson could've shifted into it, but something about the routine of actually putting on her clothes made her feel relaxed. Soon enough she'd looked halfway decent and took a an Ooper (another part of being normal) to the venue.

Mary Jane couldn't believe she was actually here.

The redhead adjusted the collar of her blouse and swallowed nervously as she stepped inside the extremely wide room. The milling group of young women made her feel like tuna stuffed in a can despite the size of the venue they were in. The place was also cold, or maybe that was just cause she was nervous. Her outfit - a red blouse, dark shorts and strapped sandals - probably didn't help.

**_'You killed five people a couple of days ago. Why are you nervous about playing dress up?'_ **

_'None of your business...'_ She inspected her red painted nails to try and look calm. She'd been on the stage before, true, but always for the band. The idea of being up there for anything other than that was...odd. She knew she was pretty - she was confident, so sue her - but she never really thought about doing anything with it. At most she'd used it as a way to attract more attention for the band - a pretty redhead upfront was hard to resist.

She'd skipped out on her morning classes to be here. Thankfully the profs she had for those times were some of the more lax ones; long as she did the end of term project they wouldn't fail her even if she was absent the whole semester. She recognized at least a few other ESU students around here, so evidently she wasn't the only one who thought 500 dollars upfront and a possible modelling gig was too easy to pass up.

Though, she doubted any of them were here to bail out their asshole fathers.

Mary Jane tapped the message on her phone again and frowned. Mr. Southern Accent said they would meet at at a nearby McDaniels when this was done to make the first payment. 400 dollars upfront (hey, she needed  _some_  pocket money) with the rest coming when... _if_  she passed the trial period. If she didn't...well, she'd either find another way or her dad was screwed. Either or.

**_'We could just kill them.'_ **

_'I don't care enough_ that  _much about him.'_  Not enough to kill for, at least. She would've killed for a lot of people: for Gwen and Peter, for Glory and Betty, for her mom and Gayle, for Norah, but  _not_  for him. He didn't deserve that from her.

There was a merciful quiet for a few seconds before Crimson spoke again,  ** _'You're thinking about Stacy's baby.'_**

_'Technically it's not_ Gwen's  _baby.'_ She practically saw the symbiote rolling those soulless eyes of its, _'...I think it should be obvious, but if you try anything I'm going to-'_

**_'I'm not trying anything. If I'm not touching Stacy I'm not touching her spawn.'_**  She winced at the word. Spawn. Not even a child or a baby, just  _spawn_ ,  ** _'Besides, she's having a kid. That's a fate worse than death already.'_**

_'You're not funny.'_ She crossed her arms and looked around the area casually,  _'I feel like an idiot for asking, but we're not gonna go through that...right?'_  She sounded pleading at the end. Please tell her she wasn't going to deal with baby para- er, symbiotes.

_**'...Of course not.'**_  Why didn't it sound so sure...?  ** _'Chocolate lover and I are made of different material. We both share the Lizard serum as a base, but the Hyde formula is far better than that radioactive trash Stacy has flowing through her veins.'_**

She didn't get a chance to say anything back before she got a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and blinked when she came face to face with a smiling young woman with long, curly dark hair, "You're new here too, aren't you?"

"H-Huh? Oh, yeah..." Mary Jane did her best to smile back, "That obvious?"

"You were standing so far apart from everyone else. Thought you might want someone to talk to." She extended a hand, "Marsha Rosenberg. Nice to meet you."

"O-Oh, uh, yeah! My name's Mary Jane. Nice to meet you too." Mary Jane's nervous smile expanded slightly. This was normal, friendly talk, but after having nothing but Crimson screaming into her head and keeping it a secret from her friends even a stranger's casual greeting made her feel warm in the stomach, "Yeah, it's my first time here. Kinda nervous."

"You and me both." She gestured to the side of the large room, "Wanna sit with me and my friend?"

"Sure!" Mary Jane said, just a little too eagerly. Damn it, Watson, get a grip, "I-I mean, cool with me..."

Said friend ended up being another redhead by the name of Mary MacPherran who tucked herself into the corner like a mouse. The description was accurate in more ways than one. The other Mary was small, easily a head shorter than Mary Jane and Marsha, and lanky to boot with thin hair that went to her waist. Her shirt and jeans looked somewhat oversized and the nervous look on her face really emphasized the word mousy.

Marsha was the opposite. She was a bit more on the rotund side with thick hair that stuck out somewhat from her head. Mary Jane didn't want to admit it, but neither of the two would've been her first thought when she thought of a model. Then again they weren't alone; she caught at least a handful of people who could be generously described as average milling around in their own little groups.

She, Mary and Marsha were tucked into a small corner with their chairs and they spent the next 15 minutes just talking. It was clear from the word go that Mary wasn't exactly a social butterfly.

"Why are we even here?" Her voice was soft and sometimes hard to hear from the other noise in the auditioning room, "They're not gonna accept us..."

"Have a little faith, Mary. That guy wouldn't have picked us if he didn't think we were worth anything." Marsha squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

"I...I'm not so sure..." She looked at Mary Jane, "What about you? Why are you here?"

"Me? Well..." She leaned forward on the backwards chair and put her head atop her arms, "My dad's not exactly the best with cash and he borrowed money from some...friends. I felt bad so I thought I could make a little extra here." It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't a lie either, "500 dollars upfront for everyone who showed up, right? Seems like a sweet gig so I went for it."

"Yeah, it's the same for us. Well, not the dad thing, the money," Marsha said, "Me and Mary work over at the Nine-Five near ESU. That's where that guy saw us and made us the offer."

"Huh...wait, I think I've seen you two around." Mary Jane rubbed her chin, "Is it the one near grande blvd? The one where the sign's busted up cause-"

"Cause Bodega Bandit's Banditos tripped over it? Yeah..." Mary laughed softly. The smile made her look far less insecure,"I saw you a couple of times there. You're...You're really pretty. I'm sure you'll pass."

"Hopefully. I need to pay dad's bills." She snorted, trying ignore the wry smile that threatened to come out. They didn't need to hear her problems, "If not then I guess it's back to the ticket counter for me."

They talked for almost 30 more minutes before Mary volunteered to get them sodas from the nearby table. Mary Jane went with her (she was hungry anyway) and they were on their way back to Marsha when it happened.

A tall blonde practically stomped up to them and Mary didn't have enough time to stop. The soda spilled onto Mary's shirt and she dropped the pastries in shock, "Ugh, watch where you're going, Skeeter!" Mary Jane scowled and turned to look at the all too familiar face.

Sally Avril. Self-proclaimed Queen Bitch of ESU and Midtown High before had all the hallmarks for it considering she was a tall, lightly tanned blonde dressed to the nines with the latest fashions courtesy of daddy's money. Mary Jane never liked her, but she couldn't say they interacted all that much. She was with the popular rich kids and Mary Jane was too busy with the band.

"S-Sorry..." Mary looked down at her soaked shirt and looked close to tears.

"You think that's good enough?" Avril sneered down at the shorter woman, "Do you have any idea how much this shirt cost? I bet it's worth more than whatever you make in that store-"

"Hey, back off." Mary Jane stepped in front of Mary and matched Avril's sneer, " _You_  were the one who bumped into  _her_. I'd say you her an apology, Sal."

The blonde blinked in surprise, seemingly from the fact that someone was talking back to her, before her expression of distaste returned, "Watson. Ugh, what are  _you_  doing here?" She looked down at her with so much elitism that she would've made Felicia Hardy proud. This was a girl who had everything go her way since day one. She was also one of the people who made Peter's life utter hell.

**_'She's annoying.'_ **

"If you seriously don't know the answer to that then I really worry for you." Mary Jane crossed her arms while Mary shrunk behind her, "Now apologize."

"For what? She ruined my outfit." She gestured to her silk top which, of course, had maybe two tiny drops on it while Mary's shirt was soaked to the front, "If these stains don't come off I'm gonna make sure you pay for it, Skeeter."

"Stop calling her that." Mary Jane had no idea what it meant, but it was clear from the blonde's tone it wasn't a compliment.

**_'We could kill her here.'_ **

_'...Too many witnesses.'_

_**'Killjoy.'** _

"Why are you playing the white knight, Watson? What, your friends ditch you and now you're trying to find new ones?"

"You-"

"Ladies, please."

Both their heads snapped to the source of the voice. A well dressed old man looked at them with a lax smile. It took her a few seconds to recognize him - Roderick Kingsley, the entire reason they were even here in the first place. His eyes were slightly narrowed as he watched them both with obvious amusement. A few of the other women in the crowd whispered among one another.

"I know this is the modeling scene, but it's a bit early to start the rivalries."

"She-"

"I'm well aware, Ms. Watson. We have security cameras for a reason." He gestured to said cameras on the walls, "And I agree with you; Ms. Avril is clearly the one at fault here. I think it's fair that she apologizes before we start, right?"

"No way in-"

"Of course, she could refuse and find herself escorted out. I do  _so_  hate rude people, after all. It's the one thing I can't abide."

Watching Avril gape like a fish made her feel better than she had in days. Gritting her teeth, the blonde turned to Mary with a look that could kill and said, "I'm sorry for bumping into you..." She couldn't have sounded more insincere if she tried.

"A little lacking, but that's to be expected." Mr. Kingsley sighed theatrically and shooed her away, "Now, go get ready. It's last name first and you're first. We'll have you changed into your attire quickly."

Avril trudged back to the changing room while Mary Jane comforted Mary, "Come on." She put an arm around the practically crying girl's shoulder and walked her gently back to Marsha. The brunette had a look of guilt she didn't even try to hide. Mary Jane didn't blame her; the entire thing was a clusterfuck and her rushing in would've just made it worse.

"I-I'll go find a spare shirt." Marsha rushed out, leaving the two of them alone.

It was quiet for a minute till Mary finally stopped sniffling, "Th-Thanks..."

"No problem. She's a bitch." Her and King were the worst things Midtown High crapped out. The fact that no one knew how much they had a hand in driving Peter to what he did made her blood boil, "I'm guessing this isn't your first run-in with her."

"No. She...She makes my life hell whenever she runs into me at campus." Mary pursed her lips, "She calls me Skeeter...it means mosquito." Mary Jane's hands clenched tightly, "I don't get it! I never did anything to her, so why is she..."

"She's a bitch who does it because she can. That's it."

**_'Maybe we should go after her next.'_ **

_'She hasn't actually killed anyone, Crimson.'_

**_'So?'_ **

Marsha returned with a spare shirt and they all waited for their turns. Mary Jane was one of the last - thank you, Watson name - and by the time she was walking on the runway and spinning around any and all nervousness was replaced by a burning frustration at the fact that she couldn't do more. Avril would make Mary's life hell after this, she knew it. People like her hated not getting the last word in.

The actual walking and posing was easy. The heels they gave her were compensated by her better balance and she managed to look halfway confident when she got to the end of the runway. There were three 'judges' gauging everything: the agent who recruited them (who she'd later find out was Kingsley's brother), Kingsley himself, and a gaunt man with frizzy brown hair that looked more like he belonged in a mad science lab than a fashion shoot.

She had to admit, the way the last guy looked at her creeped her the hell out. It would've been one thing if he was leering; that would've been expected. Instead he looked at her like she was some kind of test subject.

They all got their money (and a little extra, cause Kingsley was in a good mood) and began milling out. Mary Jane exchanged contacts with Mary and Marsha and hung around till almost everyone was gone.

"Mr. Kingsley?" she asked as soon as he was separated from the other.

"Hmm? Oh, what is it, Ms. Watson?"

"I...I have a question."

"Yes, I assumed as much." He chuckled, "Is it about the results? Cause like I said we'd call you back as soon as-"

"No, that's not it." Mary Jane shook her head softly, "I just...how did your brother pick who to come?"

"You're asking why he picked the so-called ugly duckling." He smirked at her defensive refusal, "It's quite alright, I get those kinds of questions all the time. Let me see...Ms. Watson, have you been to fashion shows before?"

"Uh, no, not really. Not my thing."

"Of course. Well, have you been on stage at all?"

"I've been in a band before, does that count? Lead singer and song writer."

"Yes, more than you think!" He clapped his hands excitedly, "You mentioned singing and writing the songs. Tell me, you're beautiful young woman. How would you feel if people came to your concerts purely because of your appearance?"

"I...guess I wouldn't feel good?"

"Indeed. I pride myself in my designs. I started up from nothing and had to earn everything I had, unlike those such as Osborn and Stark who had legacy on their side. When I make these designs I wish for people to see them beauty and work that came into them rather than, to put it bluntly, taking pictures for their next raunchy fantasies."

"So...that's why you don't just go for people like Avril."

"Indeed. I do so despise those who came to fortune without earning it. I'll have to talk to Daniel about his standards next time." He looked at his watch and frowned, "Apologies, but I have a meeting. I'll give you the results in a few days time."

"Sure..." She said goodbye and looked down at her envelope full of bills. Time to bail her dad out.

* * *

Pregnant. Gwen was pregnant.

That was the only thing Peter could think off as Professor Miles Warren rattled off about genetics and inheritance. At any other day he would've been excited or rattling off questions about the research studies, but right now all he could think about was the fact that Gwen - technically the kid attached to her, but still - was honest to god  _pregnant_.

The talk about genetic inheritance wasn't helping. At all.

It wasn't his kid. Webster (still felt dumb calling it that) made it clear that the new blob coming out came from asexual reproduction. Scientifically speaking it panned out. Many organisms like jellyfish and certain sub-species of worms created new life without any sort of sexual intercourse, so why couldn't a symbiote? It was normal...well, about as normal as it could be all things considered.

"Ben?" He was jolted out of his reverie at the sudden voice. He looked to the right and found Gwen - his girlfriend who also happened to be carrying a  _baby_  - looking at him worriedly. The hood and wig kept most of his face hidden, at least, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just peachy..."

Gwen frowned and looked down at her notes. Peter had been quiet ever since the last night. Not that she could blame him - she wasn't exactly cool as a cucumber right now either - but it still made her anxious. How did he think she felt? Just a day ago everything was 'normal' and now she was carrying around mama's first symbiote in...wherever the hell it was.

Webster was quick to re-assure her.  _It won't change anything_ , she said,  _we're still capable of heroism_. What she meant by that was that the baby was a part of them till it was born so unless they died, at which point they'd have bigger things to worry about, they'd be just fine. There also wouldn't be any bloated stomachs or morning sickness, so that was a plus.

Still, she couldn't help but be worried. She'd heard horror stories of abused wives or young junkies who miscarried for one reason or another and she did  _not_ want to be added to that list.

Despite his distracted state, Peter did take notes. Gwen gave him a sideways smile when she glanced down at his notebook and saw the scattered notes on the page. Even back in high school asking him for notes was a crapshoot since no one but him could read it most of the. Peter distractedly circled 'Purpose Guided Evolution' and began to scribble more add-ons under it.

Peter didn't answer any of the questions and he didn't ask any. It was for the best. While Prof Warren was nice enough to not ask for ID they didn't want to draw any attention to him. Yes he looked different with the dyed hair, stubble and wig, but the last thing they needed was someone recognizing Spider-Man and causing a scene. Thankfully the prof bought her excuse about Peter being a shy wallflower.

An hour passed and class soon ended with a reminder that there'd be a test on Wednesday. Everyone packed up their things and made the slow trudge outside either for another class or a well-deserved break. Gwen grabbed Peter's wrist as soon as he stood, "Let's stay behind."

"Why?" He looked down at her with suspicion. Rude.

"Cause I know you wanna ask Prof Warren about that science-y stuff." She smirked up at him.

He didn't argue. When everyone else left for class she had to practically drag him to the sole other occupant of the room, "Hey, Professor?" He looked up from the projector with a friendly smile.

"Ah, Ms. Stacy. I assume this is the friend you were talking about?" He looked to Peter with the same smile.

"Yeah, Ben Reilly." She nudged Peter forward not so gently (he was being stubborn), "He actually wanted to talk to you about your lecture, if it's not too much trouble?"

"Never trouble to talk with someone who wants to learn." Gwen had no idea how he hasn't been beaten down by the college apathy just yet, but she wasn't complaining, "Was there anything you were confused about or needed clarification on?"

"Ah...no, nothing like that." Wow, he was really playing up the wallflower cover story. She hid her smile behind her hands as he opened up his notebook, "I just wanted to talk to you about your research. You mentioned something about Merriam's views and how they were too progressionist?"

"Oh, yes, that's gotten me some arguments from a few of my peers. You see..."

Gwen hung back and tuned them out. Peter shed whatever shyness he had as he and Prof Warren pored over each other's notes. She didn't want to say anything, but it reminded her of high school when he talked to Dr. Connors about his research. It was one of the few times he enjoyed actually coming to school and made him forget how some of the other students made his life hell.

**'Don't think about it, Gwen.'**

_'Yeah, I know...'_

Before she knew it almost thirty minutes passed. The only reason they stopped was cause Prof Warren got a text, "Damn, I didn't realize how much time we've spent." He called the person back, "Monica? Yes, I'm sorry I was discussing something in class. Oh, don't worry I can still make it. Tell Jane and Colton I'll be there, don't worry. Sorry again!"

"The wife calling, prof?" Gwen asked lightly.

"Yes. I've been so busy with work we haven't spent much time lately as a family. I was looking forward to it." He smiled fondly at the phone before pocketing it, "I'm sorry we have to cut our talk short."

"Sorry for distracting you," Peter said.

"Oh, not at all. It's my fault for being so engrossed into my research." He waved a hand lightly, "Still, Ms. Stacy was correct about your aptitude, Mr. Reilly. She mentioned you might be planning to attend ESU?"

"I...I'm still thinking about it." Gwen's smile widened. It wasn't a  _no_ , which was better than what she got last time, "Gwen said you do two sit-ins, right?"

"Yes. University policy; wouldn't want to give lessons for free. If you do attend this school then I hope you'll consider my class. It's rare to find young people so interested in the field of genetics and evolution. I'm afraid many of my students consider my class a bit of a sleep-through course."

"Their loss." He picked up his notebook again, "I'll...see you later, Professor. I'll think about your theories on gene manipulation and give my thoughts on it."

"I look forward to it."

They left the classroom a little lighter in step. Gwen led him to the Bean and ordered the usual from Eugene plus black coffee (ick) for Peter,  **'Gwen, we should get chocolate. The baby needs it.'**

_'No, it really doesn't. And I don't want Webster Jr. being a diabetic like her mom.'_

**'But-'**

_'Hush. I already got you that good imported stuff this morning.'_

They sat across one another on the table, both nursing their drinks. She hated to admit it, but Peter kinda looked like an emo dweeb with that wig and hood on. The peeks of the tattoo on his left wrist didn't help at all.

"You looked like you had fun," Gwen said eventually.

"Huh? Oh...yeah." He smiled after a few seconds' hesitation, "The last memories of classes I have are from high school. College is...different."

"Yeah, well, most people kinda get it into their skulls that this is make or break and the more classes you fail the more student loans pile up." That and bullies who relied on getting others to do their work for them didn't make it far here. Probably the reason why she hadn't seen King at all; he was the perfect combination of a dumb jackass, "That and no one paid attention to, just like I said."

"You were right there..." He looked down at his cup of steaming coffee briefly, "So...about your new tagalong?"

"Y-yeah?" she asked nervously.

"You don't seem that worried, is all."

"Oh, trust me, I'm freaking the hell out on the inside." Webster made her belly warm again, "It's just...I can't see what I can do besides just toughing it out. Webster's given me so much and I think this is a way to pay her back." She grinned.

"Still...pregnant?"

"Says the guy who came back from the dead twice and doesn't think it's a big deal?"

"...Point."

"Besides, at least this way Helena won't be lonely." Would Webster Jr. count as a brother/sister or an uncle/aunt? Gah, this was complicated.

"I still can't believe you gave her that damn doll..." He actually  _scowled_  at that. Drama queen.

"It was love at first sight."

His no doubt savage response was cut off when Glory and Betty came with MJ in tow. The slight make-up on the redhead's face made Gwen stare. MJ'd always preferred to go au naturel so seeing even the red lipstick looked odd.

Thankfully she'd already ordered ahead for them, "Hey, Dark Spider." Betty grinned as she sat next to him. Peter grunted in annoyance.

"Long time no see," Glory added.

"Yeah." He took a sip of his coffee and looked to MJ, "Done with your modelling gig?"

"Yep, just gotta wait for the results." She played with her straw idly. A telltale sign that she was annoyed.

"What's wrong?" Glory asked.

"I ran into Avril." They all (sans Peter) shared mutual grimaces, "She was starting shit up with this poor girl in the audition room. Honestly, if she actually makes it past the audition I might just quit even if I pass. Don't wanna deal with her whining."

"Point," Betty said, "Still, a model, huh? Our little MJ's finally making her debut."

"Please, we did that when Gwencent fought Rhino dude." Gwen never felt more thankful than today on just how self-centered most college students were. Most people were too busy to overhear them and those that did...well, they'd just think they were rambling about stupid stuff."

Still, why the sudden interest? I didn't take you for someone into the fashion game," Glory said.

"I have my reasons." She shrugged and then, apropos of nothing, suddenly added, "So you guys wanna get together for band practice?"

Gwen blinked, wondering if she'd heard her right, "Um...what? What about your...you know?"

"I think I might have a solution for that." She shared a brief look with Peter and smiled. Right...she was just gonna ignore  _that_ , "Let's try it. You guys are free on Friday afternoon, right? Let's see if we can get back into the beat."

"Ugh, puns." Glory rolled her eyes.

"Well, it wouldn't be too bad to see if we still got the swing of things." Gwen grinned.

"You two are absolute dorks and I hate for it." Glory laughed under her breath.

Peter, who up until then had remained quiet, suddenly muttered, "I have to go." Her eyebrows furrowed; she knew that tone. He pocketed his phone and stood, "I'll see you later."

"Wait, what was that?"

"Ah...work."

"...Murdock?"

"Page." So, basically Murdock. Gwen stood and he put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, "I'm coming with you."

"I'd rather do this alone."

"No fucking way." Glory, Betty and Mary Jane stared at the two of them awkwardly, "I don't care if he says he's 'seen the light', I don't trust that asshole"

"I don't trust him either, but I have to play ball if I want to deal with Page. So if don't trust him then trust me. I'm not going to let him turn me around."

She wanted to say more, but she didn't want to scream and draw attention to them. She remembered how that bastard broke him, remembered cradling his body in her arms for the second time in her life because he didn't like the idea of someone taking away his 'toy'. She hated Murdock and nothing could ever change that. Why didn't he see that?"

"But..."

"Cindy's already there anyway." Gwen blinked.  _That_  wasn't what she expected to hear, "Trust me, I'll see you later, okay?"

"...Okay." She nodded dumbly and sat as Peter rounded the corner out of sight.

* * *

Pregnant. Gwen was pregnant.

Or at least that was what the text she'd gotten from Peter the night prior said. It was only now when she was sitting on the limousine(!) that she bothered to check her phone. She'd been too busy watching the trial beforehand and honestly she was wondering if Peter finally managed to get drunk cause it didn't make sense. Still, that trial...

It was definitely something. There was Matt Murdock, the former Kingpin of Crime and all around general drillbit, airing out a thousand metric tons worth of dirty laundry. Corrupt politicians, bought off police chiefs, deals with foreign crime syndiates - you name it, Murdock confessed to it. He went into excruciating detail and provided every hint of recorded video, contracts, bank accounts and anything else the judge asked.

And he did all of that with a smile and a broken arm that everyone assumed came from criminals trying to discourage him. Of course.

It took hours just to get through the entire confession, and even then it'd probably take weeks to actually make any headway on it. Still, it was enough to cause a shitstorm. Heads were gonna roll for this, or so De Wolfe said; especially since one of the indicted people was Police Chief Pratchett who was already screaming up and down that he was being framed. Nevermind the video blackmail presented that showed him agreeing to murder a police officer in exchange for a favor owed.

It was just her, Karen Page and Murdock in the car. Page sat to her left a fair distance away poring through files while Murdock just hummed an oddly familiar tune with a smile on his face as he read a (non-braille) book by sliding his fingers across the page. The rest of the guards were ahead and behind them in blacked out cars. Anvil Security was their name. Apparently they were well-recommended.

"So, when is Ms. Hardy planning to kill me?" Cindy looked up to meet Murdock's shaded eyes and (somehow) managed to keep her face neutral, "I must admit, the suspense is killing me, pardon the pun."

"I dunno what you're talking about."

"Yes, and I'm sure she's also not planning to follow us back to my home." He snapped the book shut, "Come now, we're all intelligent adults here, so there's no need to play dumb. Besides, you didn't think it was a coincidence that you of all people were tasked with ensuring my safety, right?"

Cindy's eyes narrowed, "You planned for this."

"Well, technically  _I_  didn't. Karen is my jailer, after all." The blonde still hadn't looked up from her files at all. Cindy almost wanted to slap her in frustration, "I wanted to meet with Ms. Hardy as soon as possible. Her and Peter are the people I've...wrong the most in the past year." Did he actually sound guilty or was that just her imagination? "I wanted to to the same for Mr. Castle, but he hasn't arrived yet."

"What are you planning?"

"He wishes to make amends." Karen said softly, finally facing them. There was something indescribable in her somber expression, "He wishes to give Ms. Hardy the same choice Mr. Parker was given a few nights prior."

"And that is?"

"If I deserve to live just a little longer." He laughed under his breath, "Karen and Stick believe that I can still be of some use, and in that sense I can't kill myself since that would disappoint them. Ms. Hardy and Mr. Parker, however, are not under this limitation. Karen can't physically stop them from interfering, you see. That breaks all sorts of rules."

"So...what, you're trying to commit death by vigilante?"

"Not particularly. If I die then I die, if I don't then I keep going as a lapdog till I die later. Either way my soul goes to the inferno and justice is served for all my sins." He said it so casually, like he was talking about the weather or his favorite food, "You could kill me as well, if you prefer, though I'm afraid you won't get much catharsis from it. Ms Moon was always your enemy more than I was."

"Yeah..."

Well... _this_  wasn't how she expected this to go. Cindy fingered the gun on her thigh holster. He was right; it would've been so easy to just draw her gun and shoot him right him in the head. She could swing away before the security could catch her and meet Felicia for that favor. She'd be mad she couldn't pull the trigger herself, but Murdock would be dead either way.

"We're here."

Cindy blinked and almost missed Page and Murdock stepping out of the car. Cindy followed after them and a few hired gunmen following behind. The building in front of them was a fancy apartment building that looked like it belonged in Dubai, "My old abode. I would've preferred something more humble, but an apartment in Queens is far too easy to break into."

"I wasn't asking."

She got into the elevator with Murdock and Page while the security guards stayed downstairs, "Wouldn't want to get them tangled into Ms. Hardy's vendetta," Murdock said as soon as the door closed.

The place was just as fancy on the outside as in. Cindy looked around the place and frowned. This place made hers look like a cheap motel, "Make yourself at home, Ms. Moon. The fridge is fully stocked if you're feeling peckish." He casually gestured to the kitchen. It didn't take long for Cindy to notice the security cameras that covered every room, "Oh, and don't mind those. They're meant to ensure I don't get up to anything."

"Right..." This was surreal. Cindy walked almost absentmindedly to the kitchen and saw a glass of red wine sitting innocently on the table, "...Might as well." She opened it up and poured herself something on a glass.

"Peruvian red? I didn't take you for a wine drinker." Karen Page said behind her. Cindy gave her a one-armed shrug, "Pour me a glass?"

"...Sure."

She poured the older woman a generous portion of the crimson drink and they clinked their bottles together. Cindy swallowed the entire glass in one gulp and coughed softly. Yeah, she was definitely more of a beer person, but alcohol was alcohol. Hey, at least she wasn't smoking down nicotine like Peter was.  _That_  was terrible.

"He's frustrating to deal with sometimes." Page gestured to Murdock with her free hand as he sat in the living room reading again.

"You know he deserves to die, right?" Cindy raised a brow.

"Yes, and I'm sure no one knows that more than Matthrew himself." She took a small sip, "Still, he can do good. Matthew is a lot of things, but more than anything he's effective. I understand you're going through troubles of your own. Perhaps he can aid you there."

"Uh...how about no and go screw yourself?" Maybe talking smack to the D.A wasn't a good idea, but to hell with it this entire thing was insane enough as it is.

The cameras cut out. Cindy's spin-sense tingled by just the smallest amount before she heard a crash from the next room, "That must be Ms. Hardy." Karen sighed like a long suffering school teacher and set her drink down, "Come on, we should see how this ends."

It wasn't very exciting. Felicia had cut through the ceiling window and attacked Murdock before he could put up a fight. Not that he would have. Felicia let go of any sense of finesse as soon as she saw him and immediately just let all her anger out, screaming and crying as she punched, kicked and threw Murdock all across his apartment like he was a ragdoll.

He didn't fight back.

" _Putain de fils de pute!"_ Felicia kicked him right in his injured arm and he stumbled back with a soft hiss of pain. She continued her assault by grabbing his collar and tossing him across his living room table, spilling the fancy baubles to the floor as he crashed through it.

Murdock coughed and sat up slightly, " _C'est un long temps à venir._ " He smiled up at her. Somehow her expression managed to turn even more murderous and she kicked him right in the jaw.

The sound of the impact made Cindy wince. Murdock was pushed to the ground from the force of the blow and Felicia followed up with another painful kick to his side that left him face down on carpet coughing up blood. Despite everything Cindy felt a smidge of pity for him, though she had no idea why. It wasn't like he didn't deserve worse, especially after everything he'd done.

Felicia panted and clenched her fists, "...Why aren't you fighting back?!" she screamed.

Murdock just laughed, "Do you want me to?"

Felicia uncurled her whip and wrapped the harsh leather around his neck. It was tight enough to choke him and again Cindy winced when she used the whip to force him to face her. He looked pathetic: his hair was a mess, there was blood around his mouth and his glasses were gone, which exposed his dull gray eyes. There was nothing demonic in them like she expected.

Murdock kept smiling.

Felicia growled and tightened the whip till it was practically a noose. Murdock's smile faltered by just the smallest amount and his hands fell to the floor. Cindy looked away. Despite everything, despite knowing that Murdock himself wanted this, she couldn't watch the execution. She tried her best to make killing cold and impersonal, even if she sometimes broke that rule.

And then, just when she thought it'd finish, Felicia suddenly let go. Murdock fell back, his breaths coming in and out raggedly, while Felicia stepped back. She still looked furious, "...Why aren't you fighting back?!" she screamed again. Murdock just kept looking up at the ceiling, "This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to just sit there and let me do this! Why are you just sitting there?!"

"Because I want to die." He sat up weakly and wiped the blood from his mouth as he looked up at Felicia, "You don't need to know the reasons, but let's just say death wouldn't be too unpleasant for me at this current moment. I either waste away and die slowly or you kill me quickly while receiving some much needed retribution. So come on then, let's finish this. Take your revenge."

Felicia clenched her right hand into a tight fish and punched him before turning around. She looked torn. Her revenge was right there in her fingertips, but if she did it she'd give Murdock exactly what he wanted. It was like if she'd found out her evil twin was dying of cancer and killing her would've been a mercy. It would've taken all the catharsis out of it.

"...Do you love your father, Ms. Hardy?" Page asked suddenly. All eyes were suddenly on her.

"What kind of question is that?" Felicia scoffed.

"What would you say if I told you that you could talk with him again?"

Felicia froze, her face fallen in disbelief, before the scowl returned, "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly that." Karen stepped forward and, for the first time, Murdock's smile fell, "Bringing someone back from the dead is strictly forbidden, but I conversing with the departed is easier. Walter Hardy didn't do enough to damn himself to hell, so it's possible." Her smile was chilling, "I know you have regrets. Do you wish for the chance to speak the words you couldn't?"

"...You're-"

"Stay out of this, Karen!" Murdock's voice had lost its cool and he actually sounded enraged, "You said you wouldn't interfere!"

"Physically," she replied coolly, "I'm making her an offer, nothing more. A chance to talk to the father she never had the chance to say goodbye to. It's her choice if she wishes to accept."

"...And in exchange you want me to spare his life?"

"You already were when you realized this wasn't the revenge you had planned. Revenge and mercy don't often go hand in hand," Page hummed, "I'll let you decide on my offer, but for now I think we should leave. Matthew needs his rest, after all."

And just like that they all left, though not without Ms. Hardy glaring at him murderously. Matt chucked bitterly as he picked himself up and wiped more of the blood from his mouth. He should've known Karen would interfere. She and Stick, they dragged him kicking and screaming like a dog on a leash. He would've laughed if he didn't feel so torn about it.

"...I know you're there."

A moment of silence passed before Peter stepped out from the other room. He'd come in shortly after Ms. Hardy started her attack and she doubted any of them except Karen noticed, "Enjoy the show?" He put on his all too familiar smile and greeted him.

"...Thought she'd kill you," Peter said.

"Disappointed?"

"Doesn't matter to me; you're hellbound anyway." He laughed. Peter always had a knack for seeing the brighter side of things, "...Guessing Page called me here for a reason."

"Yes." He stood up and winced slightly. Ms. Hardy could pack a hell (heh) of a blow, "Stick found a hideout where Murakami might be converging. Considering he's the Hand's greatest fighter outside of rare phenomenons like the Black Sky it would be in our best interest to find him."

"Fine, give me the address. I got a score to settle with that bastard anyway."

"By yourself? I doubt it." Matt shook his head, "I'm coming with you."

"You'll just slow me down, especially with that arm of yours."

"Usually people say 'no offense' when they make statements like that." Matt smiled. Peter didn't, "Regardless, I can hold my own. Stick's teachings will allow me to function at a reasonably capacity and ignore my wounds." The only downside was the pain would return later multiplied, but he'd deal with it when it came. For the task at hand it'd be appropriate.

"Do what you want. Page just said I had to work with you; she didn't say anything about making sure you stayed alive."

"I didn't expect you to." Matt hummed and removed his hand from the cast. He was on a time limit now, "Come on, let's show the Handwhat Spider-Man and Daredevil can do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Matt's gonna stick around for a while longer. Sorry for anyone that wanted him gone. Anyway, next chapter will be Spider-Man and Daredevil vs The Hand :D After that, and assuming I have space, I can probably do a segment with Lana about dealing with Aracely and the people who are after her. Depends on how far the Hand segment goes.
> 
> Anyway, the finale of this chapter with Felicia felt kinda off. I tried to look at her actions in canon to gauge a motivation and came up with this: she wants revenge, but she also wants to fight for it. Note that she deliberately left a calling card to bait Murdock and let him prepare for her rather than just doing something like planting a bomb in his safe or shooting him with a sniper rifle like Ultimate Felicia planned. So Matt just accepting it royally turned her off from getting her planned revenge right then and there.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Light question: anyone have any suggestions for symbiote names? Unlike Peter who's too fucking lazy to name his pet, Gwen is a halfway decent parent. I can't use canon names since I doubt Gwen would really call the new symbiote Phage, Riot or Scream so I need something more in-character. Cause if we don't have any good suggestions she's gonna call it Chocolate.
> 
> 2\. You know, I asked before if people would've liked it if I originally went for Peter/MJ instead of Peter/Gwen in V1, but what about if I went Gwen/MJ while Peter either ends up single or with someone else (except Lana, cause he's not touching that with a galactus sized pole)? GweMJ seems to have gotten really popular after Spider-Verse as well.


	8. Spider-Devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I'd do Frog-Man (true hero), but I was actually kinda excited for this chapter. It's a bit shorter than usual, but since this is an actual plot and fighting chapter I excused myself. I know some people are going to be pissed at the end of this chapter, so I'm already bracing myself. Well, either that or people get really hyped. Could go either way. I'll be updating Two Spiders on a Web after this so we can have a bit of a break. 
> 
> Anyway, I read the latest Spider-Gwen and one of the comments people - myself included - had is that Gwen/Harry has absolutely zero chemistry. I'm hoping the pairings in this story don't fall under the same trap. Given this I should probably downplay the romantic gushy moments and make them rarer so it doesn't feel forced or stale.
> 
> Next plot chapter will be focusing on Lana primarily. That and Gwen telling her dad and Jess about her new tagalong. Cue George Stacy going for his gun cabinet and inviting Peter over for dinner.
> 
> So the majority votes for the symbiote's name are either Chocolate (I seriously just suggested that as a joke) or Charlie, which is just another way to say chocolate. Laura's also the prime vote for the host, which might make things...difficult. Incidentally, I love how many are into the idea just cause it makes Cindy suffer. Guess that 'Cindy is Laura's mom' plot took off way more than I intended.
> 
> Side Note - When I asked about GweMJ last chapter I did not mean I would break up Peter/Gwen now. I meant that I wondered if people would've preferred that as the pairing in V1 all those months ago vs the Peter/Gwen pair we got. I have no break-up plans.
> 
> Adding to that, I've gotten at least a couple of reviews for Matt/MJ. That...came out of nowhere. Is it cause they're both redheads who were possessed by monsters? Cause something tells me Gwen would FREAK OUT if MJ ever went for it.

"This is the place?"

The nondescript office building he and Matt stood in front of was hardly something that looked like it belonged to someone as vaunted as the Hand, but he knew that beggars couldn't be choosers. With the Beast dead and a lot of their assets totaled thanks to him and Moon Knight's (and Rand's, according Spector) efforts across the past year, an office building was all they could really afford.

"Yes. Not as cavalier as my previous evil lair, isn't it?" Whatever cry for redemption he had, that damn smile never changed. He looked like a shark who smelled blood in the water. The devil costume didn't help, "After you killed Alexandra, they lost a lot of their funding."

"Probably shouldn't have left all their money on a woman who had an ego bigger than that Skrull ship." He supposed it was inevitable. After you lived for so long you either got so paranoid about every little thing or you thought you were invincible. Alexandra and Sowande were the latter while Bakuto and Gao were the former. Always hiding behind their lies and proxy soldiers the same way Matt did a year ago. Except for them it was because they were afraid.

And then there was Murakami.

He'd only faced the (very) elderly Japanese man once, back when he'd escaped that Hand dungeon, but he'd never forget him. Crusty old bastard was as tough as leather with a face to match. He didn't care about the thought of dying. Not because he was confident; he just didn't care if it could happen.

Peter took another slow breath from his cigarette - which Gwen was not so subtly nudging him to quit... - and looked up at the building. He knew from experience that Murakami was a brute, obsessed with honor and with a bizarre sense of fair play. Long as he responded in kind Murakami was predictable and, best of all, focused on him and him alone. He knew for a fact that Sowande, Bakuto and Gao weren't nearly as easy.

Speaking of.

"Not going armed?" Murdock asked as soon as he pulled out both pistols and unloaded them. He removed the bullets from the chambers and Murdock smiled, "Ms. Stacy's not watching, you know?"

"We want to kill Murakami, right?" He put the pistols and magazines back into his jacket and began unloading his bracers, "He won't run, not if he thinks he can get a fair fight out of this. No need to sneak around when we can go through the front door and get what we want." Besides, he probably warded the building so he couldn't go invisible. It wouldn't have been the first time.

Thankfully the two of them were alone. Despite the sun just barely setting the entire street was empty save a few parked cars. Last thing he wanted was to draw attention or have anyone take a picture of Spider-Man working along with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, "Sure you can fight?" He emptied the last magazine from the bracer and put it in his pocket.

"Worried for me?"

"Answer the question before I break your other arm."

Murdock laughed. The fact that only his jaw was exposed made it more unnerving than it should have been, "Yes, I should be able to." He moved his right arm experimentally, "Ms. Stacy broke the bone, but Stick's teachings allow me to keep it mended for the time being. I'll face the consequences of that soon enough." Peter didn't ask. He didn't care.

"Right. Let's go."

The lobby was brightly lit, spacious and looked like no one had been there since it was made. The chairs and tables were meticulously cleaned and the front desk had no one manning it. Peter made his way towards it with Matt right next to him and picked up the logbook, "Hmm, rather rude of them," Matt said airily, "I expected that there'd be a bit of a welcoming party."

"You're in the wrong place if you're expecting champagne." He picked up the logbook and the pen. If Murakami had his way they it would've just been the two of them in an empty room with no distractions. Again, he liked that about him; guy was stubborn as an ox and had a temper to match.

He wrote their names down - Daredevil (dumb name) and Spider-Man - and raised the page to one of the security cameras on the wall. The message was clear:  _Come and get us._

Matt raised his head and smiled wryly, "Well, that did it. You kicked the hornet's nest now."

"You can always turn back."

"And miss spending time with you? Not for anything."

Peter dismissed him with a rude gesture and turned to the elevator at the end of the lobby, "Get ready." He cracked his knuckles and lowered himself into a fighting stance while Matt unsheathed his billy clubs.

*Ding*

They were out immediately and with no warning. Murakami was a hermit who didn't like to get involved in the politics, but he wasn't like the rest of the Fingers: his men were disposable, yes, but that didn't mean they were just bodies to throw into the grinder like it was with Matt, Sowande and Gao. Meaning they'd have a fight on their hands.

Half a dozen men and women in suits strolled out of the elevator. The first two, both men, led the pack, one of them holding a sword and the other wielding a baton. No firearms, as expected; Murakami thought it made them weak and reliant, "Huh, guessing the boss is upstairs?" None of them said a word. He'd take that as a yes, "Guessing you stooges are the welcoming party, right? Fine, let's go."

He waited for them to make the first move. The man with the baton charged forward and Peter dodged his blow, grabbed his arm and twisted. The man didn't scream even as Peter twisted his arm behind his back and slammed him to the ground hard enough to knock him out.

The rest were on them already. Matt threw one of his billy clubs and hit a woman wielding a nightstick right in her throat, causing her to crumple to the ground. He dodged the slash from the one with the sword and kneed him in the gut, "These are Murakami's best trained?" His smile was wide and could generously be described as crazed. He was enjoying this.

"Focus." Peter grabbed another one of the goons and headbutted her. Blood gushed out of the broken nose and stained the dark fabric of his mask. The woman was barely on the ground before the elevator dinged again and more goons walked out. Murakami must've been using them as a hazing. Anyone who didn't last or survive clearly wasn't worthy of the Hand.

Matt punched another one in the jaw and he crumpled like a stuffed sack, "Heh, this is fun." Peter rolled his eyes as they were forced back to back with the goons surrounding them. This reminded far too much of that time back when Jack and his mad followers went on a rampage. Except this time there wouldn't be a weedy arms dealer at the end of it.

Matt ducked when a man with a knife charged at him. Peter turned around and kicked the guy straight in the chest while Matt took his previous place and tripped another man with a baton before stomping on his face, "Just like told times." Peter scowled. He talked like they were friends or something,

"Shut up." He yanked the closest one with a net of webbing and headbutted him before taking his baton. It wasn't his preference, but he'd make do, "Come on."

Three of them charged at him. Peter lowered into a sudden crouch and Matt rolled across his back to kick the closest one across the face while he webbed the remaining two with both hands and tripped them to the ground. Matt smacked them both in the heads hard, "We work well together." Peter didn't say anything and turned around just in time to kick out a goon trying to slice his neck clean off.

He hated to admit it, but Matt was a...decent partner. It wasn't a surprise. He only had a month, but Peter did train with Stick while Matt was being raised as Stick's own personal child soldier. They fought similarly, even if he hated the thought of the two of them being similar in any way.

Peter leaned back to avoid the knife and it just barely cut through the cheek of his mask. He quickly adjusted himself smacked the woman's gut with the tip of the baton before following up with a strike to her face, "Tch." He raised a hand to his right cheek quickly and frowned at the blood on his fingers. If Stick were here he'd beat him black and blue for getting distracted.

"He certainly would." Peter dropped the baton and let Matt deal with the last goon. Counting all the men and the backup that was over a dozen men easily, and he wasn't naive enough to think that was the end of it. This was the welcoming party Matt was expecting, "Guessing you're on the top floor?" He asked to the security camera. No response, "You better not run. I'm playing by your rules, after all."

He called the elevator back down and Matt walked beside him. He looked none the worse for wear apart from a rapidly forming bruise on the right side of his mouth and blood on his knuckles. His smile was still there, "Hmm, it's nice fighting something more than an opportunistic rapist." Peter didn't say anything and pressed the button again. Now Murakami was just taunting him, "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Shut up."

Matt sighed, "You know we don't have to be enemies."

The elevator doors opened, "Doesn't mean we have to be friends either." He looked back, "Come on, unless you wanna take the stairs."

"I was going to so we wouldn't have to be confined to small space, but if you insist." Matt grinned and strolled inside before Peter could shut the door in his face. Damn it. Sighing himself, Peter pressed the button to the top floor.

It was mercifully quiet for a few seconds, though of course it didn't last, "What do you plan to do after this?" Peter didn't say anything, "I mean, you can't just be Spider-Man 24/7, hm? Without the Hand I daresay you might actually have time to be Peter Parker, especially given Ms. Wilson's Initiative program. No need to run yourself ragged solving ill and woe of this city."

Again, he said nothing.

"Well, assuming I survive this little war Karen wants me to go back to being a lawyer. Pro bono work, of course, just helping little old ladies who got scammed by the big bad conglomerates or helping a crippled child sue the bank for everything because a disability means people sympathize." He tapped his covered eyeholes, "Me being a so-called helpless blind man really sold the 'innocent possessed by the Devil' angle'."

"What makes you think you'll even survive this?"

"Perhaps I'm optimistic." He shrugged lightly, "And if I don't...well, we all have to get our ticket punched eventually. I will admit that a part of me wants to end it because the anxiety keeps me up at night. You know the feeling: you worry so much on what  _could_  be that a part of you just wants to get it over with. Even the worst of Hell's torments pale to some of the nightmares I've had thinking on it."

"...I think you're underestimating it." Peter scoffed.

Matt laughed, "Perhaps, but keeping an optimistic mind helps with the day to day." He hummed, "...Do you ever think about it? What comes after, I mean?"

He should've kept quiet, but the damn elevator was making him stir crazy, "Not really." It wasn't a whole lie. He did think about times, though now he'd made his peace with it. Gwen and a few others like Cindy were definitely heading to the choir invisible upstairs, but as for him and everyone else...well, guess they'd have to flip a coin for that. Page'd probably dangle it over their heads at some point.

"In control as always. It's no wonder I fell in love with you."

His spider-sense didn't blare. Peter didn't say anything and just waited for the final floors to tick down. He was sure that if Gwen were here she would've had a meltdown, so probably best if he didn't mention it. He could tell it took everything she had not to follow him to Matt's place; finding out about this would mean she'd never stop hovering over his shoulder. Justifiably so, but still.

Matt smirked and put a hand under Peter's jaw and turned his head to his. They were scant inches from each other now "You know, in many situations silence is treated as consent." Matt's expression showed off his teeth.

Peter grabbed his wrist and snarled, "How's a broken jaw treated?"

"Much less positively." He chuckled and titled his head just before the elevator suddenly stopped a few floors from the top. Peter let go of him, "Well, looks like we have one more gauntlet to run. Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

This time he didn't wait for them. As soon as the doors were opened he charged out and tackled the closest goon to the wall with a sickening crack. Another goon rushed to his back back Matt threw a billy club to the side of his head.

He could hear them all, crowded around the rooms. Peter sneered, grabbed the goon from the wall and tossed him through the door. The wooden doors practically fell off their hinges as the goon flew through the air and crashed through a nearby table. A few of the stooges actually turned to look in shock at their compatriot's state, which gave him just enough time to press the attack.

He didn't kill any of them and neither did Matt, but that didn't mean they were going to go easy on them. Peter hit them hard and fast, blood, teeth and spit flying out with every blow. Matt was the same, breaking their bones and leaving them crumpled in the floor with whatever he could get his hands on. At one point he even stabbed a stooge through the palm with a boxcutter after smashing him against the wall.

It was disturbing just how familiar it all was. He definitely saw Stick's training, but in many ways Matt reminded him of Bullseye and Moon Knight: crazed and clearly enjoying the pain he gave and take. All throughout he never stopped smiling and sometimes he laughed even when a knife nearly chipped through the armor and pierced his stomach.

_"Because I want to die."_

Good thing Peter didn't care about him.

Peter finished off the last goon and let him fall to the floor. This time he managed without a scratch, "Planning to tire me out?" he asked aloud. He kicked one of the groaning mooks and nudged his head to Matt, "Come on, I'm getting tired of this."

The two of them made their way up using the stairs. Peter ducked to avoid the sword as soon as he opened the door and Matt threw another club hard enough to break the bastard's nose. Peter grabbed him by the collar just long enough for the man's eyes to widen before he threw him down the stairs where he fell with multiple painful cracks.

"...That was cruel."

"Cry me a river."

The top floor was devoid of all life. Peter opened the door and raised a brow when he saw that empty, brightly lit hall, "Guess he's done stalling." He kicked the door open and strode inside. The hallway went two ways: straight ahead to a large room and to the left to who only knew where. Murakami would've been at the room; all the better for his fight.

"I guess this is where we split ways." Matt hummed, "You deal with Murakami and I'll check in on the rest of the rooms. Perhaps we'll find something useful on the other Fingers."

"Do what you want."

"Telling me you want me to be careful would be nice."

"So would you jumping off the building. Wanna trade?"

He chuckled and left, leaving Peter to trudge the length of the hallway alone. Despite the dozens of men they fought through below he couldn't help but feel a slight weight in his stomach. He didn't like to think about it, but he'd only been alive for a scant 19 years; nothing compared to the centuries of the Fingers. He'd brushed against death so many times now and he wasn't even old enough to drink.

He opened the door.

The room was large and completely empty save for its sole occupant. Murakami knelt on the floor with his back facing him, his head bowed and his breathing level with a small ninjato at his side. An amateur would've thought that he was sloppy, careless. Peter knew the truth: a normal man had no chance of landing a single hit on him.

"Hey. Been a while."

" _Ore no buka wa shippai shimashita._ " Peter smiled wryly. Murakami's voice was as rough as gravel and his slow words added a menace to it that couldn't be denied, " _Anata wa hitori de konakatta._ "

"Don't worry, Matt's not gonna interrupt us."

" _Yoi._ "

The older man stood and turned to face him. Murakami wasn't young despite his so-called immortality - his face was tanned and rough like leather and the wrinkles around showed a man who'd survived many years against other people's attempts otherwise. Despite that he was anything but feeble; even under his coat and shirt it was obvious he had the body of a fighter and what little skin that wasn't covered showed peeks of ornate tattoos.

Stick had said once that Murakami looked more like he belonged in the Yakuza or Triads than something like the Hand. Peter agreed, though that was hardly a bad thing. Like he said, the bastard was predictable.

_"Bokutachi no saigonotatakai wa mikan no mamadeshita."_

"Yeah, well, I wasn't at my best." Peter shut the door behind him as Murakami took off his coat and shirt, exposing the tattooed body underneath. That was how fought - no armor, no tricks, and no help. If he couldn't survive on his own then he didn't deserve to, simple as that. How old bastard managed to even join the Hand in the first place was beyond him.

"I'm gonna keep my clothes on, if it's all the same to you." Murakami didn't say anything and just waited for him to take his place across from him, "You know, I like someone who doesn't my jaw my ear off. Ready?"

" _Anata ni_."

Murakami struck first. Peter side-stepped the heavy punch and countered with a knee to the chest. Murakami blocked his leg and pushed him back with a powerful blow to the chest, _'Still as fast as ever.'_ Peter stumbled back slightly and took a slightly strained breath. Going invisible wouldn't work here - he could feel the countermeasures on the walls - and the room offered no advantage to either of them.

Murakami's blows were fast and difficult to dodge even with his enhanced speed. Peter ducked and tried to sweep his leg only for the old bastard to jump and almost kick his head off as he landed. Peter scowled and pressed the attack, punching at whatever vulnerabilities he could spot.

The first two blows were dodged and the third was blocked. Murakami's mouth twitched in pain from the force of the blow and Peter ejected a net of webbing. The web clung briefly to the surface of his skin before falling to the ground uselessly, "...Came prepared, huh?" He retreated slightly to the hard wall as Murakami advanced on him. Maybe he really should've taken Gwen's offer earlier. Centuries of combat experience meant nothing when your opponent could shrug off being shot by rifle rounds.

Murakami's next blow almost struck him square in the jaw. Peter dodged the blow and his fist impacted with the concrete wall hard enough to break it,  _'Damn.'_ Peter grabbed the older man's arm before he could pull it back and smashed the elbow with his own arm. There was a sickening crack and Murakami's face knotted in pain just by the smallest amount.

Peter twisted his arm back, breaking the bone even further, and pressed him against the wall, "Saw your men at a museum not too long ago. What were they after?"

" _Sore ga Gao no jigyōdesu._ " Peter's brows furrowed. Gao's business? He was sure those were Murakami's men. Hm, probably on loan. The old bastard didn't much care for the day to day. Long as they left him alone to do his hunts they could do whatever he wanted.

He didn't get a chance to ask another question before Murakami's supposed to be broken arm broke out of his grip and he headbutted him. Peter stumbled back from the sudden, unexpected blow. He ducked to avoid the next punch and was too slow to the react to the kick aimed at his chest that forced him on his back, "Shit..." His spider-sense screamed and he rolled to avoid the ninjato coming straight for his neck.

"Time to use weapons now?" Peter eyed his arm. The bone had definitely broke and yet there he was using it like nothing was wrong. He was really starting to hate that Chi thing, "'Fraid I didn't come with anything sharp and pointy. Still don't like guns, right?" He tried not to think of the irony that  _he_  was the chatty one in this relationship. Gwen would've had a field day.

Somehow the slashes and stabs were even faster than the punches and kicks. Peter let his spider-sense guide him and he almost felt like a puppet on a string as he ducked and weaved Murakami's trained strikes. It was an odd feeling, one he didn't like very much. Teresa told him something about his spider instincts before, but he still wasn't much a fan of feeling out of control in his own body.

Peter flipped back and aimed a kick at Murakami's outstretched arm. The blade flew through the air and crashed against the nearby wall. Peter kicked Murakami in the chest hard enough to make him stumble back and clicked twice on Gwen's webshooter to snag the handle of the blade. By the time the weapon was in his hands and Murakami realized what happened the blade had already come down.

The blade cut through the ring and pinky fingers of his right hand before he could move his arm fully. His other hand struck Peter's wrist and the blade fell with a dull clatter between them. His eyes snapped down to it briefly and that was long enough for Murakami to headbutt him again and kick him into wall.

They stayed in the opposing corners. Murakami was on his knees and looking down at his mangled hands while Peter panted and tried to recover from the blow to the solar plexus. He wasn't used to this. 'Honorable' fighting...it sounded like a joke to him. A fight was a fight and the dirtier you went the better chance you had. Shoot someone in the bad, cut the lights, even drop the ceiling on top of them. The time of duels and bowing had long passed.

Peter regained his breath and stood up. Murakami was still on his knees, but his gaze was focused and steely. He was ready for round two.

He barely managed a couple of steps before his spider-sense screamed. He knew that warning -  _nowhere to go_. Before he could do more than brace himself a sudden, unseen force crossed the length of the room and he was flung into the wall like a ragdoll. His breath was forced out again and he looked up through blurry eyes as a figure in an ornate dress walked into the room with a cane.

"Gao..." Peter sneered. If there was anyone in the Fingers he hated dealing with, it was her. Murakami was predictable and Sowande and Bakuto hid behind their followers, but Gao...she seemed to feed off of people's misery. She propped herself up as some enlightened philosopher when really she was just a parasite who gouged the people who already had nothing.

Murakami's displeasure matched his own judging by the scowl on his face, " _Ima sugu shuppatsu._ "

"No. It's clear you can't handle this." She looked down in distaste at his severed fingers, "This... _child_  is nothing more than a crying gnat and yet you failed in every turn. Now I will handle this."

Out of nowhere, two ninjas in crimson red uniforms grabbed Murakami and pulled him from the room even as he screamed. She looked down at Peter with a look of utter distaste, "You were useful, stopping the upstart, but now you've overstepped."

"Fuck you." He pulled out his gun only to be met with a deafening click. He cursed himself and grabbed for a magazine but when he looked up again Gao was already gone, "Damn it..." He pulled himself up off the ground and narrowed his eyes. He wasn't alone.

More ninjas, each of them wearing the same blood red cloth. Peter reloaded his other gun and started shooting. Something about the ninjas made it easy to forget they were people. He didn't think too much about it; the last thing he needed was a discussion on the morality of killing people who tried to stab him with pointy sticks and had the survival instinct of lemmings.

He finished off a dozen by the time he got to the hall again. His spider-sense suddenly blared...and then abruptly stopped, "What the..." He holstered his guns and sniffed the air. He smelled blood from the next room. An ambush no doubt, but...

Peter opened the door and was immediately met with the sight of another pile of dead bodies with a figure over them. It was a woman, that was clear even under the thick cloak, full body suit and patchwork mask she wore. Her right hand held a katana while the left held the neck of a ninja who was trying to choke something out through his bloodstained mask.

She stabbed his throat. He gurgled briefly and she let him drop without a word, "...Guessing you're not pals with Murakami's bunch." She stepped past him and nudged her head. He got a closer look at her mask. It looked morbid, a pathwork leather thing with obvious stitches marring the surface and no sign at all where her eyes could see out off. "You one of Matt's friends?"

Again she didn't say anything. Peter's eyes narrowed but he followed along; his spider-sense was still quiet, "...At least tell me your name." That finally got her to stop. Her shoulders sagged by the barest amount, like she could barely be bothered, and she took off her mask.

She was a young woman with tan skin and features that resembled someone with Native American heritage. Still, that was nothing compared to what drew all his attention: a white handprint that started from her right jaw to her left forehead. Her face was expressionless and the handprint only emphasized her dull brown eyes. She looked at him in silence for seconds and then mouthed a single word.

_'Echo.'_

"...Guess that's all I'm getting from you." She put her mask back and nudged her head again, "Fine...lead the way."

* * *

He missed this.

Matt grinned as he smashed the billy club against another of Murakami's pawns and broke her jaw. Her hand raised to try and stab him and he grabbed the outstretched limb before quickly breaking it. Murakami trained his men, but they weren't broken the way Stick made his students. He still remembered the harsh training, the way Stick left him with bruises all over his body all while taunting him for not being better.

He didn't hate him for it. Back then with his mother dead (and blinding him, because God had a twisted sense of humor) and his dad committing assisted suicide due to pride he had nothing and no one left. To think he actually considered the old man a father. How naive. Stick had beaten that out of him too. He wasn't his father. Stick was the blacksmith and Matthew Murdock was his weapon.

It instilled a warped sense of values in him. The closest equivalent would be those horror stories you'd hear about African children charging machinegun nests with nothing but machetes because they didn't know any better. He was the same, ready and willing to bite open someone's neck because Stick told him. He didn't know any better, he was barely ten when he killed his first man, so why would he doubt?

Stick told him to feel pride when he hurt people, and now that pride mixed in with his own sense of anger. It would've been one thing if he died right then and there in Times Square. He would've welcomed it; dead by the hands of the people he tormented under the Beast's thrall. It would've been storybook and he would die as the monster. Perfect. Now he was here, strung along on Karen's leash because the human part of her just  _refused_  to give up on him. At least he could share that pain and frustration to everyone else to make himself feel better.

Or maybe he was just a sadist. Either or.

The last of the pawns fell and Matt picked up his thrown clubs. He didn't kill any of them, even if the temptation to do so was almost overpowering. He liked to think it was part of his desire to atone for his undeserved life, but really he just wanted to spite Stick. Stick taught him to kill without thought, made it as easy as breathing. Turning away from that was a victory, however petty.

He wondered how Peter was doing. Matt was certain he could take care of himself, though he was equally certain that Ms. Stacy would blame him for anything that happened to her precious Spider. It somewhat amazed him how she managed to retain that balance of kindness and stupidity despite everything she'd been through. Still, he knew well enough not to provoke her if he could help it.

"Hm..."

He told Peter he'd split off in search for information, but the computer room he found himself in ensured he was of limited value. Despite his gifts, blindness was still blindness and he couldn't read an electronic screen. Stick had deliberately refused to teach him how to repair his eyes, some justification on reliance, and at this point he didn't care enough to ask. A world on fire beat sight any day of the week.

And he had other methods.

He looked over and found one of the more uninjured pawns. Her nose and one of her hands was broken, but she was remarkably well all things considered, "We need to have a talk." Matt grabbed her by the collar and all but smashed her head against the closest table containing a computer. She cried out weakly in pain, "You know how to use a computer, right? Nod your head if yes."

It took a few seconds of hesitation, but eventually she nodded. Matt grinned openly and pushed her into a miraculously upright chair, "Good. You're going to help me. Give me information on anything your master finds valuable and I'll let you go."

"They'll...They''ll kill me..." she muttered weakly, her Japanese accent thick.

"If you don't,  _I'll_  kill you." He pressed the tip of the club against her neck hard enough to choke, "Difference is you can from them. You can't run from me."

He unwrapped the billy club and wrapped the wire around her neck be he  _pulled_. Choking was one of the most terrible ways to die. A bullet or a blow to the back of the head wasn't pleasant, but at least it was (usually) quick and, if you're lucky, painless. Choking was different. Your vision faded, your breath stopped and eventually you can't feel anything but the rapid beats of your heart trying to save you. It brought a fear like no other.

And an excitement. It was surprising how many died trying to go for that thrill, but he wasn't one to judge.

Her heartbeat sped up and, after a moment of internal conflict (and lots of screaming), she nodded. Matt smiled pleasantly and unwrapped the wire, "Good. I knew we could be friends." He hummed and kicked the back of the chair. Her chest hit against the deck and she heaved, "Now get to it."

It took her a few minutes to get anything with that one hand of hers, but eventually she managed to get something. He paid attention to her heartbeat the whole time. Stable - as well as it could be, considering the circumstances - so he had a good feeling. Eventually after a while (and leaving blood on the keyboard) she took a USB from the CPU and handed it to him shakily.

"Thank you very-"

Matt grabbed the USB with his right and used his billy club to deflect the thrown knife aimed at his throat. The woman wasn't so lucky. The knife embedded clear through her carotid artery. Her next few breaths came out as strangled gasps and she fell forward, crashing to the floor with a pool of blood forming underneath her.

"You're a bit late if you hoped to silence her." Matt flashed the USB tauntingly and ducked to avoid another thrown knife. Odd, he could barely hear the other figure's heartbeat, "Are you one of their test subjects?" he taunted loudly. The Hand had limited methods of resurrection even outside the Beast. Emphasis on limited - most came back with their minds fractured and their bodies damaged in some way. It would explain the faint and irregular heartbeat.

The figure didn't say anything and threw another knife. Matt deflected it and charged towards him. He expected to be stopped, but his punch connected and pushed through the feeble block. Matt hit him thrice before the figure could throw another punch, which Matt easily grabbed and countered, "Not very well trained, are you? " He elbowed him in the face and pushed him towards a nearby pillar.

The pawn crashed into it and Matt kneed him in the stomach. He let out a muted grunt of pain and quickly stood up to attack him again. Matt blocked every blow and elbowed him in the face. The pawn rolled back into a crouch and it was only then Matt noticed one of his clubs in his hands.

He spat out blood and tossed the club against the floor in front of him. It bounced, hitting Matt square in the jaw. Matt's head rang from the impact and the pawn tackled him till his back hit a nearby table painfully. Matt fell on his knees as the figure slid under the table, grabbed another knife and tossed it right where he lay.

The knife cut through the armor on his wrist. Matt scrambled back, stood and flipped through a nearby table, using it as makeshift cover, "Good aim on you." Matt hissed and pulled the knife out as the pawn tried to throw knives through the table.

He had to finish this now.

Taking a deep breath, he ran along the length of the room, dodging and deflecting the thrown projectiles as he went. He threw his last remaining club at the power switch, bathing the room in absolute darkness.

He lowered into a crouch and used the tables as cover. The pawn looked around and threw projectiles at every little noise that came. Matt kept going till he was behind him. This one he could kill; he'd died once already, after all.

Matt was almost on him before the pawn suddenly turned around and, with an eerily familiar chuckle, tossed a knife close to his neck in a minute gap through the armor. Matt screamed at the sudden pain and stumbled back into a nearby shelf. Matt raised a hand automatically to the knife, which gave the pawn a chance to grab the shelf and collapse it on top of him.

Matt landed on the ground with the shelf on top of him. The impact re-broke his arm and he bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming.

The pawn laughed, louder this time, and he finally heard it. Matt's eyes widened as the faint and irregular heartbeat became all too clear. He looked up at the pawn with wide eyes. He knew that heartbeat.

He'd been the one to end it, after all.

"Bullseye..."

For the first time, the figure spoke, "Bingo."

And then he raised his foot and stomped on Matt's head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So am I the only one shipping Peter/Matt right now? It's clear Peter's a super hard tsundere for him given his constant comments about how he doesn't care about him and the fact that he wants him to die.
> 
> And we finally got the last member of the V2 Defenders: Maya Lopez, codename Echo, a Cassandra Cain-esque figure who doesn't talk much but her actions speak more than enough for her. With this we've got four anti-heroes (Matt, Peter, Echo and Moon Knight) with one nice boi (Iron Fist). Maybe I should add more genuine nice guys?
> 
> ...Oh, and Bullseye's back under the Hand's control. Yay. Yep, now we've got former Kingpin turned hero Daredevil fighting against former anti-hero turned unhinged monster Bullseye. You know what they say: you either live long enough to be a hero or you die and see yourself become the villain. Or at least that's how Earth-65 says it.
> 
> Five bucks says the audience is still gonna side with Bullseye, though. That heroic psychopath charms really colors people oddly. Speaking of, I really enjoyed writing Matt's perspective in this chapter. He's a different kind of anti-hero from the others I've written and typing out his thoughts was a real delight. I'll see about adding more POV's for him, especially when he interacts with people like Gwen and Cindy; especially Gwen.
> 
> Question:
> 
> 1\. So what's the verdict so far: are you guys sympathetic and/or intrigued by Matt or should he have been executed at the end of V1?


	9. The Legend Arrives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here. The chapter about the man, the myth, the legend himself: Frog-Man! I know you've all been waiting for this and just forced yourself through those boring Noir and Gwen chapters, so savor this!
> 
> ...
> 
> Alright, being serious now. This chapter is pure, unadulterated cringe. Somewhat different from the last Frog-Man chapter cringe, but still cringe nonetheless. Eugene's just kinda sad and pathetic in this chapter since now heroes are an expected part of life in V2 and yet he's still stuck being the wannabe. This leads to him coming across as more pathetic than ever.
> 
> He also has a bit of an inflated ego. This is actually pretty close to canon since in his latest appearance he legit compared himself to Hawkeye (one of the earliest Avengers) and fully believed he was good enough to be Captain Marvel's (Ms. Marvel back then) partner. He even said he'd be calling her Carol soon enough. So yeah, this does kinda reflect negatively on him.
> 
> On the bright side it does allow me to tie him into the story rather than him having his own 'adventures'. I also toned down some stuff in the interest of making him more sympathetic.

"Hey Eugene. I'll have the usual."

Eugene looked up from his phone to find Gwen Stacy with her usual smile, "Oh, sure." He rang up her order practically on autopilot. She always ordered the same thing for her and her friends - caramel for herself, strawberry for the redhead, chocolate chip for the brunette with the glasses and and plain vanilla for Gloria (he shared a class with her). She always paid for all of them and let him keep the change, so she was probably loaded or something.

This time she had a guy friend with her. The guy looked kinda emo: bangs that covered his eyes and a hood pulled up to block almost all of his face from view. He looked really out of place next to her, but Eugene didn't say anything while she grinned and flirted with him. It was none of his business.

She grabbed three of the cups while her boyfriend(?) took the last two and they sat outside to wait for the remaining three members of their group. He recognized them, vaguely. They were the opening show for one of Spider-Woman's charity shows over a year ago. For a while there the band was running high until...nothing. They stopped taking gigs and everyone just forgot about them. Life.

Still, he had to admit they were all lookers. ESU wasn't exactly lacking in that department, but even then a redhead stuck out. He once read a study that red hair was the rarest hair color in the world, especially a darker shade like hers. His red hair was more like something Ron Malfoy had and it didn't help much to make him stick out from the crowd.

He sighed boredly and looked around the cafe. It was the same stuff as usual: couples in corners making out, wannabe directors typing up screenplays and a few college students catching up on their homework. He yawned and looked outside again. It looked like Gwen and the emo guy were having an argument, but again he paid it no mind. Probably just relationship stuff.

Being a barista wasn't as exciting as those sitcoms made you think. There weren't girls who came up to flirt with you and since he was the new guy most of the actual coffee stuff was handled by the senior staff. That was pretty boring too, if the almost dead way they prepared the drinks and pastries was any indication. At least there weren't any fights or anything. It was more or less an unspoken agreement that they just needed the money and getting into pissing matches wouldn't help anyone, meaning they more or less pretended the others didn't exist unless needed.

Sighing again, he told the other person on the counter he was taking his break and trudged to the backroom. So far college hadn't been what he expected. There weren't any wild parties or new thrills for the newcomer from the suburbs. Instead it was a whole lot of studying, making sure he had enough money for his part of the rent and arguing with his dad about whether an engineering track was the right course for him.

He tapped into the (slow) cafe wifi and began browsing the net. There was a new Spider-Woman and Hawkeye vid out, which he bookmarked for later. It was basically just go-pro footage edited just a bit to show off what a normal patrol was like. Supposedly it was for accountability, but he doubted the million plus viewers for every vid really cared about that. It was just  _way_  cooler to see Spider-Woman take down some bank robbers for real instead of hearing about it after the fact or from some shaky cam.

Sadly it always ended pretty quickly. 10 to 30 minute vids at most after being uploaded, and despite everyone's best best attempts there were definitely no hints of Spider-Woman's identity or anything outside of the crime being stopped since the vids always ended after the last takedown or after she went out to meet the cops. It was probably why the upcoming Spider-Woman movie (two weeks left!) was so popular; they'd finally get to see the woman behind the mask...more or less.

Eugene did his usual rounds. First going to #justspiderthings (used to be #justspiderwomanthings before people started adding Spider-Girl, Spider-Man and Spinerette stuff in) and then to some of the other hero boards. There wasn't anything new. A few shitposts and sightings, and while there were a few links to some NSFW images and sites he didn't dare open them when anyone could just walk in on him.

As usual, he found his mind wandering. Ever since the Avengers popped up they'd been doing more and more amazing stuff: stopping that superpowered terrorist, defeating H.Y.D.R.A, and even leading the Initiative against and honest to God alien invasion. It was a common joke in the forums that before the year was out they'd either counter invade the Skrulls or stop a demonic invasion.

Speaking of demons...

He went to the spidernews reddit and clicked the top post. It was a blurry picture of Spider-Man on a rooftop dangling someone dressed in a devil costume off the edge. It'd been a year since it happened but the fight between the Defenders and that ape demon thing in Times Square still made the rounds sometimes. After all, it wasn't every day a group of vigilantes ended up killing an actual  _devil_.

That caused a  _lot_  of religious debates when it came out, especially when the Asgardians came. The Church of Asgard was growing by the day and it hadn't even been a week since the Defenders disbanded(?) before there were people screaming about how it  _totally_  wasn't a demon in Times Square. Good thing he wasn't too focused on that religious stuff.

He was kinda bummed that he couldn't help out at any point. He was back home when the Avengers (sans Cap and She-Hulk) fought the terrorist and when the Defenders beat that demon and his suit was ruined when the Skrulls invaded. He could've helped.

Still, the pic definitely got his attention. Was Spider-Man fighting devil worshipers now? He'd been all over the place the past year. Fighting with superheroes in France, helping take down a warlord in South Africa and even getting into a brawl with ninjas over in Shibuya. It was clear he'd been busy the past 12 months and people definitely took notice. He checked on the responses.

**BIGMAN: Yo, so it's confirmed the true hero's back?! YUSSS!**

**LittleBigBeard: Hero? Lol keep dreaming. Guy's just a supervill and Imma laugh when you guys finally see that.**

**BIGMAN: You're just salty he's got a better ass than you, Todd.**

**penman: speaking of do you guys think Spider-Man's still together with spiderwoman?**

**ABCD: Should be, right? She didn't say anything about breaking up.**

He decided to comment.

**EPFrog: Dunno didn't see them together at all since he came back. Maybe they've broken up?**

It wasn't like he  _wanted_  them to break up or anything. It was just...well, a year was a long time to be on a break, so  _realistically_  it made sense, right? Spider-Woman would be a free agent and would be open to anyone.

And it wasn't like he didn't think Spider-Man was a cool guy - he was - but if he was in his place he wouldn't have left for a whole year doing the long distance thing with someone like Spider-Woman. Besides, Eugene always thought the guy looked better with Spinerette. The two seemed to be good friends judging by some of her comments during interviews.

**SpiritusDude: Dude, she would've said something if there was a break-up. Every time someone asked about him the whole year she basically says they're still together. Cellphones are a thing, ya know?**

**EPFrog: Just saying they could have broken up without telling anyone.**

**Manclaw: even if they did she's probably dating hawkeye or spinerette or something**

He'd definitely considered that. Spider-Woman had mentioned in one of her first interviews that she swung for both teams, which a  _lot_  of fanfic writers and horny teenage boys were very happy with. Eugene couldn't say he hadn't stayed up at night thinking about her with Hawkeye or Spinerette. It really helped that Hawkeye admitted she had a major crush on Spider-Woman even before she knew who she was under the mask. It made sense - someone like Kate Bishop would definitely know an heiress, assuming the theory on Spider-Woman storyboarding her own comic origin story was right.

He was about to respond before his coworker Steve popped his head into the break room, "Yo, break time's over!"

"Y-Yeah, coming!"

Work passed by in a boring haze. It was 5 in the afternoon by the time his shift ended and he made his way back to his rented place. The place was decently sized, but considering there were three of them there it still felt cramped.

His roommate, Judge, was reading the living room table and he didn't look up. They weren't friends or enemies; the only reason he even knew the guy's name was cause his name was on the lease. For the most part they ignored each other and the only times they talked was if they needed the other to pay their part of the rent.

The other tenant was Gabriel, the guy he met over at the M&M game. He was friendlier than Judge, though he spent a lot of time out and most nights he didn't even bother coming back. Eugene didn't pay too much attention to it. The guy was nice, sure, but he doubted he got up to anything exciting. He was just Striker's old schoolmate.

Eugene opened the door to his room and turned on the laptop as he took the suit from underneath the bed. College classes meant he only got a few hours at best to do his thing depending on just how much homework the profs loaded him with, "Come on..." He laid the suit down and tapped the touchpad. The damn thing was old, but it was the best he could afford considering his job.

He looked through the bookmarked pages and sighed at the numbers on the screen. 7 subscribers on the youwebs (it was 11 just a couple days ago), 9 tweeter followers, the same number on swiftpound and 2 dollars worth of donations on his adveocate page (even though he'd seen more on just reaction channels..). His recent Frog-Man vid just barely trickled past the double digits and so far he hadn't gotten a response on monetization.

There were links to other, more successful pages. He was was he tapped the screen to close the tab and was accidentally redirected to the tweeter of Michael Van Patrick, better known as MVP. Everyone knew who he was - the new generation's Captain America, an all natural good boy who got to where he was through strict dieting and training. In a lot of ways he was more inspiring than the original. Training and dieting beat a serum; made people think it could be them wearing the red, white and blues one day and being the face of the Initiative.

He wasn't jealous or anything, it was just...kinda annoying - they both didn't have powers and neither did Hawkeye, why couldn't he get to their level? He'd tried to get into the Initiative but he didn't last through the basics and they kicked him out soon after. They did offer to buy the spring boots as a consolation, which his dad was all too happy to accept, so now he wasn't even special for having them. Last he checked some firefighters and construction workers were already getting training for em.

There were a few other tweeter pages - Hawkeye, Striker, Spider-Girl and Spinerette - but of course he was drawn towards Spider-Woman's. Easily over ten million followers - nearing 15 at this point - even though she didn't update much and only occasionally posted a few comments or pics. The last post was from a few days ago:  **'Spider-Man's back in town! About time...'**  and nothing else. That got a lot of likes and retweets.

Eugene shut off the laptop and put on his costume. He could maybe get a couple of hours of patrolling done if he was lucky. He put on the helmet and walked out. Judge looked up from his book, rolled his eyes with a scoff and quickly went back to reading. He didn't say anything, but Eugene was pretty sure the guy didn't approve. Maybe he was worried that villains would come for payback while he was in? He didn't keep his secret identity hidden, after all.

He taped the go-pro to his mask as soon as he was outside and he jumped. He'd gotten way better at using the springs, though he did still have the occasional hiccup. He thought at least the footage of the jumps would get some views, but apparently people were much more interested on Spider-Woman's swinging or Hawkeye's parkour rather than him.

Patrol was...uneventful, which was a (sadly) common thing. He tended to keep his patrols pretty close to campus, so there was little chance of him running into a Supervill of some kind most days - and the few times he did someone else usually stopped them before he could psyche himself up to join in. So far he'd gotten to talk to a few of the Initiative graduates like that guy Xorn, but not Spider-Woman, oddly enough.

His mind wandered again. Spider-Woman...they hadn't talked since she joined them on patrol with the rest of the (now disbanded) Protectors. Cypher graduated and got a job, Slyde went back to being a villain (if you could even call him that), Tarot was too busy with school and Eye Scream split off because he thought he could be more popular as a solo hero.

He saw her around the city sometimes, but she was always out of sight before he could say anything. Trying to message her on tweeter never got him a response. He wasn't surprised; she probably got thousands of people trying to message her every day. It was still disappointing, though. All he said was he wanted to see if she was willing to team up again now that he was solo.

The sun was almost gone when he saw it. A couple of teenagers trying to break into a car. They didn't look armed so, with a deep breath to psyche himself up, Eugene jumped down, "Hey!" Both of them turned towards him and he continued before they could say anything, "You know it's not nice to steal, so just give up if you know what's good for you!" He did his best to make his voice deep and menacing.

It didn't get the reaction he wanted.

The teenager to the left, some guy in a brown hoodie who looked as pale as a sheet, started laughing. The teenager to the right, not as pale but far more lanky and wearing a red t-shirt, just turned to friend and gestured towards Eugene, "Uh, this guy serious?"

"I-I'm very serious!" Eugene screamed, "Some guy worked hard to get that car, so you don't have any right to steal it!"

Pale dude finally stopped laughing, "Man, fuck off! We know all about the heroes on this block and you ain't one of em! Get outta here before you get hurt, Frog boy!" Okay, he had to admit  _that_  hurt. So what if he wasn't a member of the Initiative? Spider-Man wasn't and criminals wouldn't talk shit to  _him_. Eugene took a deep breath and stepped closer with his head held high.

Lanky guy rolled his eyes, "Really, dude, fuck off. We ain't got time to deal with wannabe assholes."

Eugene threw the first punch. It did make lanky guy stumble back a bit, but it didn't take long for him and pale dude to hit back. A minute later and Eugene was on the ground getting the hell (and his lunch) stomped out of him. The suit muffled their blows at least slightly, but he was still screaming and groaning in pain from the hits. At the back of his mind he could only think about how familiar this all was.

Lanky guy stopped kicking him and turned to his head, "Hey, you sure he ain't one of them heroes? I don't want any revenge trips from his buddies."

Right, the 'unspoken rules'. Ever since the Initiative Program kicked into high gear and heroes became a more accepted part of life criminals wised up. Initiative Heroes were encouraged not to kill criminals unless the circumstances were dire, so that meant most law breakers tried to avoid killing the heroes in turn or roughing them up too badly. Crippling or, god forbid, killing an Initiative Hero meant their cheesed off buddies put the killswitch up and most people didn't want to deal with a superhero once they didn't care if they broke your neck.

Unfortunately for Eugene, that didn't apply to him.

"Nah, I looked at the list. Ain't no loser in a frog suit on it." Pale dude reared his leg back and Eugene shut his eyes as he braced himself for the hit.

*Thwip*

Pale dude screamed and when Eugene opened his eyes again he found him hanging upside down from a nearby lightpost, "Shit!" Lanky guy's eyes were wide and he turned to run to the alley, leaving his friend behind. He didn't get far before a barrage of webbing hit him in the back and pinned him to the floor till there was nothing he could do but struggle and scream against the ground.

"Wh-Wha-"

"You alright?" Eugene looked up to the source of the voice and almost scrambled back when he Spider-Woman looking down at him. This wasn't how he wanted to meet her again! God, this was embarassing... "Uh, can you stand or do you need me to take you to a hospital?" She tilted her head slightly (damn, it looked cute) and offered him a hand, "Cause I can totally swing us over if-"

"I-I'm good!" Eugene gratefully accepted the offered hand and she pulled him up effortlessly.

"You sure? By the time I got here it looks like they've been beating on you for a while."

"N-Nah, it was...I'm okay." His nose was bleeding, he was pretty sure, and there'd be bruises for the next couple weeks, but he was still standing.

"Alright, well, I should probably-"

"W-Wait!" He cried out suddenly, "D-Don't you need my, like, statement or something? For what they did."

"Huh? I could just call the cops-"

"B-But you're already here and you can do it." Did he sound too desperate? Hopefully not.

"O...kay. Well, I guess it'd save the boys in blue some time. Sure, let's do it. " She laughed softly. He'd never heard her laugh before, "But if you insist on staying we should probably get you some ice, at least. Come on, I know a store near here."

They (she) bought an icepack, tissues and a couple of sodas at the nearby convenience store. The cashier's eyes were wide and she immediately asked Spider-Woman for a selfie...and basically pretended like he didn't exist when he asked if she wanted one with him too. Ouch, but he expected that with Spider-Woman in the room. Anyone would've been an extra if they were in the same room as her.

"Can you jump? I'd rather not talk about it on street level." She gestured to the staring citizens.

"I-I'm not sure. Maybe they broke something?"

"You asking or telling me?" She waved a hair through the air casually before offering that same hand towards him, "Grab on. I can take us up."

He took her hand in a shaky grip and before he knew it they were flying through the air. Eugene didn't really have enough time to process it - one second they were on the ground and the next they were on a rooftop far high enough that people could video them, "Should be good here." She sat on a vent and put the assorted stuff to her right, "Might wanna take off your mask. It's...kinda busted."

Eugene took the mask off and groaned at the left eye that had popped right out, "Dang it." His dad definitely wouldn't fix it; he didn't like the idea of him doing this. Sighing, Eugene sat on the vent next to the plastic bag and dabbed at his nose with one hand while the other held an ice pack to his eye. Spider-Woman just waited and texted on her phone, though she made sure the screen was out of sight...not that he was going to peek or anything.

Eventually the bleeding stopped and she pocketed the phone...somehow, "Here." She handed him one of the cans of soda and raised her mask halfway up to her nose so she could take a drink. He was kinda disappointed she didn't take it off all the way, "You're staring. Got something on my face?" She smiled lightly. Her lips were wet and glistening from the soda and his mind wandered to where else they could be-

"Ah, no! Just...nothing." He tentatively sipped at his own soda and stared down at the can. God, why was he such a loser? This was just like when he (and Spider-Man) visited him (technically his dad) a year ago.

"Right...so, your statement?" She tapped the side of her mask. Was she recording?

"Oh!" He self-conscious wiped his upper lip, "Yeah...uh, those guys down there were trying to steal that car. I-I tried to tell them to stop and they just-" Laughed in his face, "-uh, they didn't stop. So I got closer and it turned into a fight."

She tapped the side of her mask again, "Carjackers, huh? Guess you can't beat the classics." She finished off her soda and set it between them, "Well, I dropped off a call earlier so I'll drop the recording on the police station when I head home."

"Oh, cool!" Ugh...kill him now, "So...hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"How do you..." He paused, trying to find the words, "You mentioned before that you were in college, right?" It still amazed him that someone like her was basically the same age as him. She should've been 22 now, he thought. She said she was 21 in the interview last year.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Like...how do you the normal stuff? Like, fighting crime and doing tests at the same time."

"It's...a bit of a struggle sometimes." She put a leg up put her head on the knee, "It's better now that there are more Initiative heroes running around. During the training program it was really hard keeping things balanced. Actually I almost failed one of my classes." She laughed again, "But eventually I got through it. Dad and...mom helped out when they could."

"Why are in college anyway? You're already an Avenger." And she made a buttload of cash in merch. The constant donations under various charities proved that and last he checked the Avengers were being bankrolled by both Starktech and Dynecorp.

"Why not?" She grinned, "I always wanted to see what college was like and I think I deserve a little bit of normal. Besides, the stuff I'm learning could help me out. Not the supervill class, those are inaccurate as hell, but the criminal psychology stuff's good."

"Huh..." Least she knew what she wanted.

She lowered her mask back down, "Well, I gotta go. Take care of-"

He didn't know what made him ask his next question. It was out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Are you and Spider-Man still going out?"

The eyes of her mask shifted to copy a raised eyebrow, "Uh...yeah? Why?"

"Ah, that's..." He gulped nervously. He didn't know the  _why_  of it, he just asked, "I...I'm just wondering. Cause, ya know, he took off for like a year and I thought that maybe he's just-"

"I love him." His rambling died off as she sat next to him again, "We've been through a lot. I can honestly say that there's no one else I'd rather be with and I'm sure he feels the same. Did I like him leaving for a whole year? Of course not, but I understand why he did it and he's here now. Do I really have to advertise that we love each other just so people can stop asking about it?" Annoyance seeped into her tone at the end.

"N-No, it's just...did you ever think about going with anyone else? Besides Spider-Man?"

"I don't like thinking in what-ifs; always leaves me second guessing myself. Point is he's here now, I'm together with him and for the first time in a long while we're  _happy_. It's as simple as that." She sighed and pulled up her hood, "Look, I really should go. I gotta talk to my dad about something big."

"Oh, sure..." He looked down at can of soda and swallowed, "Hey, could we team up again? You know, just a couple of heroes going on patrol."

"Uh...sure, I guess." She fished out a card from her pocket and handed it to him, "Here's my prioricard number. Just tap it if you really need help and I'll come swinging, guaranteed." She gave him an (oddly dorky) thumbs up.

"Yeah, cool." He rubbed the card between his fingers, "Thanks for this, it's really cool. But um...could I...have your number? You know, just to keep in contact," he said casually.

She was quiet for a moment before she suddenly breathed out, "...Look, let's not do this."

"What are you-"

"You like me." He opened his mouth to protest and she cut him off, "Look, I'm not dumb. You've got every sign of someone with a hero crush. On the one hand it's cute, on the other I really need to tell you that you should move on. I'm happy with Peter, and honestly I'm  _tired_  of getting messages from needy, entitled people ranting about how I should just 'give them a chance' or that 'Spider-Man's no good for you'. What I do with my personal time is my business, not theirs."

"B-But I do like you! It's not just a hero crush!"

She looked at him without a word and then asked, "Alright, tell me one thing about me that you didn't just pick up off from an interview. Just one."

"What? Uh...I dunno, um..."

"If you saw me without my mask would you even know who I was?"

"Well...no, cause I've never seen you without a mask."

"Exactly. Another question then: who do you think I am?"

"Huh? Well...you're Spider-Woman."

"And I guess you think I really own a mansion and I'm a model, right?" Well...not exactly. He doubted it was true, but she must've had an awesome life even outside the mask. Just look at Felicia Hardy or Kate Bishop; a popstar and an heiress turned superheroes even without powers, "Eugene, I'm not this...flawless hero people love to prop me up as. Those first two years were utter hell and sometimes I couldn't even get out of bed cause of how depressed I was. People are in love with the  _idea_  of Spider-Woman, that's it. They don't care about who I am under the mask."

"But-"

"All you've seen is Spider-Woman and that's not all who I am, the same way Peter's not just Spider-Man the vigilante with the guns. We've talked, what, three times in total? How could you have more than a hero crush on someone when all you know about them is what you've seen on interviews?"

Eugene didn't - couldn't - say anything.

"I'm sorry if I'm being harsh, but I've dealt with this before and I'm dealing with it now from one of my best friend's little sis, so I'm not in the mood for another swing around. Find someone else, maybe a friend you're hanging out with." She paused, "Oh, and go to the hospital, please? That beating looked kinda nasty."

She swung away. Eugene just looked down at the prioricard and didn't say a word. A part of him knew that she was right, but another part felt a little resentful. Of course he didn't know her- he never got the chance to. He was over there in stepford suburbia getting crapped on cause his dad tried to rob a diner in a stupid frog suit and Spider-Woman stopped him. If he was here he could've helped her out...

He pocketed the card and put the mask back on. The go-pro was banged up but still working but who'd want to see a video of him getting his butt kicked? "Damn it..." He stood and tried to ignore the lingering soreness. This entire thing was a wash. Not only did he get his ass beat but he mad a complete turd of himself in front of Spider-Woman. A shitty way to end a shitty day.

He walked around aimlessly. A few people turned to stare at first but eventually they stopped paying attention him; probably thought he was a mascot doing a promotion or something. A part of him wanted to just go back to the apartment, but another larger one just wanted to find some way to forget the past quarter of an hour and re-do everything.

Eventually he noticed that people were stopping to stare and point at something above. He turned to follow and gaped when he saw it: a figure in a red and dark blue costume with long red hair whipping in the wind. Eyecatching enough on her own, but the fact that she was crouched on the side of a building made sure that everyone who saw her couldn't take their eyes away.

And then she jumped.

She rushed down to the ground and, for a brief moment, he thought that she'd crash into the pavement. He prepared himself to jump and catch her when she suddenly turned around mid-fall and shot two lines of blood red webbing towards the building. She propelled upwards and flew towards one of the main roads. She shot another line of webbing and swung away.

Eugene followed. He had no idea why; his body was practically moving on autopilot. She was still swinging through the road, jumping on the roofs of cars and trucks and even using flagpoles to propel herself upwards. Eugene jumped as high as he could and watched as she jumped between the walls of two buildings and ran along the windows of a nearby office building before swinging out of sight.

"Wow..." That was Scarlet Spider, right? Different costume, but who else could it have been? He sat at the edge of the building and just thought about it. There were a lot of Spiders coming out recently, so someone must've been making them, right? Maybe he could call Spider-Woman's prioricard and ask her? She said it was a radioactive spider and it didn't work anymore, but maybe there was something else. With that thought in his head, he stood up and nodded.

And then he heard an explosion.

It was far enough that he was safe, but he couldn't stop himself from following the sound. When he got to the mostly deserted street he found himself in front of an office building with a huge chunk of rubble at the front.

"What the heck?"

Three figures jumped out. The first one - Spider-Man, he realized blankly - shot a line of white webbing behind him so he could slow his descent. The other one, a woman who looked like a Halloween scarecrow ninja, stabbed a sword to the and used it to slide down while her other hand held onto a guy in a devil costume like he didn't even weigh anything.

Spider-Man landed first with the ninja following soon afterwards. He stood up from his crouch and looked back at the burning floor, "Damn it, should've known Gao would set the place to blow..." He growled and looked towards the crowd (and him). Most of them had the bright idea to run, though at least a couple stayed to either gape or take pictures and video, "Show's over, folks."

The ninja slung Devil Dude over her shoulder and nudged her head. Spider-Man growled again, "Well what do you want me to do? Can't exactly take him to the hospital."

"Maggie's church..." Devil Dude said weakly.

"And just how are we supposed to..." He looked back to Eugene and when he looked around he found that everyone else had finally decided to leave. It was just the four of them now, "Patillio, I said show's over. Get outta here."

"D-Do you need help?" They looked like they needed help. Devil Dude was bleeding and they were covered head to toe in dust and flecks of blood.

"Not unless you're a doctor."

"I-I could call an ooper for you guys. You need to get somewhere, right?"

"...Fine, but we should probably get outta here before the cops come. ...And thanks."

He called his preferred driver and he got there in record time. They all piled in, though Eugene was forced to sit in front because of the size of his costume. Eugene looked up at the to the rear view mirror. Spider-Man was poring through some papers at the rightmost seat while Devil Dude leaned against the window and pressed an arm against his bleeding neck. Ninja lady looked down until her head suddenly jerked up to meet his gaze on the mirror. Eugene promptly looked away.

Francis (the ooper driver) paid them no mind. Apparently he wasn't paid enough to deal with 'superhero shit' and said he'd keep his mouth shut if they gave him a five star review. Spider-Man gave him an extra 100 hundred dollars just in case.

They were close to the church when Spider-man finally spoke up, "Thought you said you could take care of yourself?" he said to Devil Dude.

"We all have our limits. After all,  _I'm only human_." He laughed at that. Spider-Man clicked his tongue and looked back out to the dark window.

"That's still debatable." He scoffed, "Who the hell did that to you, anyway?"

"Oh, are you worried about my safety, Peter? You  _do_  care about me!" He grinned despite the blood.

"You know what, I don't care. Whoever it was I owe him a drink." He got the feeling Spider-Man didn't like Devil Dude, which didn't seem to be reciprocated given how DD kept smiling.

"If you wish." DD shrugged with one shoulder and nudged his head to lady ninja, "Still, you are full of surprises, aren't you? "

"What the hell are you talking about? She's with you."

"Oh? I thought she was with you. I don't have any domain over the Black Sky. Not anymore, at least." Eugene looked up at the rear view mirror again. Black Sky? Sounded like some kind of perfume, "Though, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You always did have a knack for inspiring loyalty even in the unlikeliest of individuals."

"Tch..."

They got to the church. Eugene took off his mask and got out shakily followed by Spider-Man and the others. Spider-Man let out a slow, tired breath while black sky ninja lady slung Devil Dude's arm around her shoulder.. She hadn't said a word the entire time and it was pretty creepy, "Back room..." Devil Dude pointed a shaky finger to the church, "Maggie will ensure I don't bleed out."

"Come on then."

Eugene awkwardly followed them inside. The place looked worn out and not really someone he'd leave a person bleeding out. They were halfway through the large room when he asked, "Hey, so isn't this that guy's place? Uh, Mr. Negative-"

" _Don't_  call him that." Spider-Man's sudden snarl made Eugene shrink back. It was kinda silly. If he did the math right then they were the same age, so why did he feel like a kid next to him? They weren't that different. They both put on costumes and went out to try and help people. Heck, if he had powers too he was pretty sure he could do most of the same stuff he did.

"S-Sorry..." Eugene mumbled.

"...It's fine. Sorry for snapping at you." He sighed, "Come on, let's get this over with."

Ninja lady handed DD over to Spider-Man and, after some obvious annoyance, he took him to the back room while she stood guard outside. Eugene made to follow them inside before she suddenly shoved him back, "H-Hey, what's the big idea?" She crossed her arms and didn't say a word. Eugene tried to step past her again and she shoved him back harder this time.

What the heck?

"I'm just trying to-" He stepped forward and she suddenly unsheathed her sword and pressed the edge of it right up against his neck. Eugene's blood ran cold and he put his hands up in a panic, "Hey, hey! Woah! T-T-Take it easy!" She still didn't say anything and the patchwork mask with noticeable stitches only added to how scary the entire thing was. She could slit his throat and he wouldn't be able to do anything.

Spider-Man stepped out of the backroom and stopped when he saw them, "The hell are you doing?" She turned towards him and pressed the blade harder against Eugene's neck. He stopped breathing; didn't want to risk it, "He's not a threat."

She made the smallest sound - some kind of grunt - before she pulled the sword away and put it back on its sheath, "...Sorry about that. Still trying to figure out what her deal is." Spider-Man said. He faced her, "You gonna stay here?"

She nodded and and knelt down in a meditation pose with her head faced downwards. Spider-Man sighed and nudged his head to the entrance and Eugene followed, heart still ringing in his ears. That was way too close.

Spider-Man handed him some bills when they got to the entrance, "Here, for the driver and helping us out. Take care of yourself."

He turned and began to walk away. Eugene shouted, "H-Hey wait." He turned back and looked at him, his expression unreadable underneath the mask, "Wh-What happens now?"

"Now? 'Daredevil' has to make sure he doesn't bleed out and I got some files to give to a friend." He shook a USB stick, "After that, who knows."

"So that's it? What am I supposed to do?"

"Uh...what the hell are you talking about?" He tilted his head slightly.

"I mean, I'm in it now, right? I should help."

"Ain't looking to make another team, Patillio." He scoffed, "You helped us out, yeah, so thanks for that, but this ain't an audition. Best you get home if you know what's good for you."

"Hey, come on!" Eugene stepped in front of him to block his way, "Just give me a chance, man! I know I don't have any powers but Black Cat and Moon Knight didn't have any either and-"

"Are you ready to die?" He still couldn't see his expression, but Eugene could feel the harshness of the other teenager's gaze. He shrunk back, "Answer the question. Are you ready to die?"

"W-Well...that's not..."

"This isn't a game, Patillio. I lost a friend to these bastards and they don't play by the rules you think they do. That woman inside? She was one of them. You think she's one of the good guys and she nearly slit your throat without even thinking about it. This ain't the adventure you're looking for."

"But  _you_  do it..." And so did Striker and she was younger than he was.

"I don't do it for fun. You think it was flawless for me? I got the hell beat out of me more times than I can count, I watched one of my closest friends die in front of me when all I could do was beg...I  _died_ , Patillio. Wasn't exactly a fun time for any of us." He still remembered that vid. Spider-Woman holding and hugging him and begging him not to go, "Trust me, you don't want in this."

"I just..." He just wanted to help. He  _could_  help. He and Spider-Man - Peter Parker - weren't that different. Both of them were unpopular geeks who got bullied and then put on a mask afterward. Sure some details in-between were different, but Spider-Man wasn't any better than him. If Spider-Man could do it then he could too, right? Powers weren't everything.

"Go home, and hope you never run into any of us again."

He rounded the corner out of sight. Eugene chased after him only to find nothing but an empty street, "But I can..." He sighed and called another ooper to pick him up to take him back home.

By the time he got there Judge was gone, probably asleep in his room, "Home sweet home..." He sat down on the couch costume and all and closed his eyes. Should he call Spider-Woman? No, too soon. He didn't wanna come across as too desperate. He could ask her for a team-up once he fixed his costume and then maybe just slip it into conversation that he was interested in getting Spider powers. She'd give him a heads up, right?

A sudden ringing on the table jolted him out of his thoughts. He looked down and gaped like a fish when he saw the name 'Striker' on the screen followed by a picture of a grinning Striker herself making a peace sign. He hadn't seen that picture before - she wasn't even in her costume - so where did Gabriel get it?

Gabriel stumbled out of the bathroom and grabbed it just as Eugene was about to reach out, "Shit, sorry for the noise!" He smiled at him apologetically and answered the phone. A few words were exchanged (he couldn't hear Striker's end) and soon enough he cut the call, "Sorry about that again. Didn't mean to interrupt your sleep."

"It's...It's cool." Eugene said, "So, uh, you're friends with Striker?"

"With Lana? Y-Yeah, I guess." He smiled slightly, "Speaking of, she said Spinerette called us over. Something about the girl she and Spider-Girl rescued a couple of days ago." Oh yeah, he saw that on the news. Mayor Hollister was so proud that his daughter stopped those human traffickers.

"Sp-Spinerette? But, why did they call you too?"

"Uh...can you keep a secret?" Eugene could only nod blankly, "Right, so I kinda-sorta snuck into some place I shouldn't have and got some info on where that deal was that Lana and Spider-Girl crashed." Eugene still didn't say a word, "So now I guess Spinerette wants to see if I know anything else? Dunno why her, though. There weren't any Supervillains there from what Lana told me..."

Eugene was still stunned silent. Gabriel Reyes, the guy who didn't even have a  _costume_ , was on a first name basis with Striker and helped her out in her hero work? Why didn't he say anything before? He could've helped her out too!

"So I really gotta go. Sorry again for the noise." Gabriel grabbed his backpack and was out the door before he could say anything. Eugene didn't even have to think before he put on his mask again and followed Gabriel out. He didn't have any luck with Spider-Woman or Spider-Man, but Striker he could definitely help. She wasn't much more experienced than him so she couldn't turn away the help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, cringe. This was actually somewhat hard for me to write since writing egotistical weaklings who are still supposed to be sympathetic/not completely hated is pretty new to me. Matt is far simpler despite his twisted character because I'm not worrying whether he's sympathetic or not, which is relaxing.
> 
> And like I said before I toned down some stuff. Most notably I removed Eugene's daydreams of him being in the middle of a harem consisting of Gwen, Lana, Spinerette etc etc or him rubbing one out to NSFW Spider-Woman fanart. It wouldn't be odd for a hormonal young man to think these thoughts or do those things, but I figured it'd be too much and just make the audience think he was a creep.
> 
> ...Oh, and MJ's having her own version of What's up Danger now that she has a new costume :P Can't wait to get back to her.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. What do you guys think of Cindy being Laura's 'mom'? That was totally unplanned and I only put it in there cause people kept asking about Laura and Shadowcat and I wonder how well it came across given that Cindy never interacted with them the previous volume.
> 
> Following up on that, do you guys want more focus on these segments? I can do that but this means losing new characters Jean De Wolfe and Ben Grimm since Laura and Shadowcat would take their screentime.
> 
> 2\. Should I make Cindy less gun focused? A friend pointed out how odd it was that someone as strong as pre-Venomized Gwen defaults to guns rather than melee like you'd think.
> 
> 3\. I know some people have said it, but would you guys actually be interested in a Murdock/Mary Jane kind of thing? I personally don't care for it but as a writer I could definitely see the plot potential. Bonus points if I add Felicia gunning for MJ for the most fucked up love triangle in the story. I don't like romance, but the sheer dysfunction of this would be pretty hilarious.


	10. City Never Sleeps (and neither do they)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fast update. I wanted to wash down the Frog-Man cringe with something somewhat less cringy. It's still kinda bad, but at least the characters aren't nearly as egotistical and unsympathetic.
> 
> The MJ/Matt/Felicia romance has really taken off given recent reviews with half of the readers being all for it and the other half thinking it's a trainwreck waiting to happen. Some others still want a Peter/MJ/Gwen polyamorous relationship or even Peter to cheat on Gwen with MJ(!). That last one definitely caught me by surprise.
> 
> Endgame's coming in 5 days where I'm at :D Let's go!

If someone told Lana a year ago she'd be friends with Susan Storm she'd have laughed in their face.

Contrary to popular belief she wasn't one of those eat the rich proleteriats (Pete taught her that word) who raged against the rich and some invisible system. Assholes were assholes, didn't matter if you had a Lamborghini or you couldn't even afford a cab. She wasn't delusional enough to think that people who struggled sang around the campfires singing kumbaya. Some of the biggest dicks she knew barely had a cent to their name and it had nothing to do with how much cash they (didn't) have.

Back then she didn't think about Sue Storm, not any more than President Howard T. Duck or Spider-Woman. She was just someone on the billboards and gushed about by her classmates because of something funny that happened on the (recently ended) Fantastic 4.

So ending up at her fancy penthouse drinking (non-alcoholic) apple cider was definitely still somewhat of a surprise to her. It wasn't the first time she'd been here, but even then she felt like an alien sitting on the fancy couch that probably cost more than her entire old apartment. Even now she still wasn't used to this. She missed her modest apartment, missed the kitchen being so close to her bedroom that she could smell the bacon when her mom cooked (they alternated every day) and hear her off-key singing.

"Lana? Are you alright?"

Lana shook her head quickly and smiled at Sue, "Yeah, sorry, just kinda tired. What'd you say?" She thanked small mercies Sue lived alone ever since her 17th birthday. Last thing Lana needed was Sue's horndog of a brother trying to grab at her tits now that puberty was hitting him like a bitch. He had his fangirls to perv on.

"I was actually asking if you were alright. You seemed...distracted lately."

"Oh...yeah." She took a sip from her cider and almost coughed it out. She definitely wasn't used to this stuff, "Just...thinking about the usual crap. I mean if it's not school it's about my other job." Thank  _God_  school decided to cut out for the next couple of days. There was a Supervill attack fifteen blocks away and one of the prissy witches complained about how 'they were practically brushing against death!' so the school decided to give them a break. Lana wasn't complaining, but she knew they'd get a shitload of homework to make up for it.

"Need to vent?" Sue smiled over the rim of her glass. If some her old Midtown High classmates saw her now they would've either kissed her ass to get an intro or accuse her of being a sellout - hell, she knew that for a fact considering Brooke immediately messaged her on headbook about the 'good old times' when Sue shared a picture the two of them took on her tweeter. And then of course she'd 'nonchalantly' mentioned that her followers would love if she did a meet and greet with Sue.

She didn't respond. Most of em ditched her and treated her like shit when she needed them so they could go suck a fat one.

"I guess." Lana set her glass down, "It's just...there's this girl, Aracely. Me and Anya and Gabe saved her from these human shitstains down at the docks and now I think she's going to be deported to Mexico. I mean, that's not my business, I already saved her, but..." But she couldn't stomach the idea of it. The girl didn't remember anything from her past. No family, no home...she'd be dead within the week given what Lana knew of her.

"There's nothing you could do?"

"I dunno. I could maybe talk to William, but I don't like the idea of her breathing only as long as he thinks he can milk her for sympathy points." Technically her friendship with Sue was the same. She was America's Sweetheart, after all, and it was so 'inspiring' (and marketable) whenever the two were caught together. The little poor girl who got powers and now she was an upstanding hero. Nevermind the fact that William was fine ignoring her for 15 fucking years.

"Do you want me to see if I can do something on my end?"

"Ah, no, it's fine. I'll think of something..." Maybe she could ask Cin about it? She was with the cops and she knew for a fact that she was still talking to her old S.H.I.E.L.D buddies, so that might have worked...

"You know I could help if you gave me a chance..." Sue mumbled. She probably hadn't meant for Lana to hear it.

"Alright, you sound like you're going through an emo thing. What's going on?"

"Wh-What? It's nothing!" Lana crossed her arms and just stared at her. She didn't say a word; she knew Sue would crack. The blonde fidgeted in her seat and, after a moment of hesitation, she spilled, "A-Alright, it's just...don't think I'm being dumb, okay?" No promises, she didn't say, "It's...I hear you talking about all the things you're doing and I can't help but feel like we're growing distant."

"Uh..." This wasn't how she expected this to go.

"You have these friends who help you with the dangerous things you put yourself through and all I can do is just watch and hope that you don't get in over your head. I'm not like those people who look at you in awe. The things you do are dangerous and sometimes I...I dread thinking that maybe one day your luck'll run out and then I'd lose you."

Lana couldn't say anything. She knew the hero gig was dangerous. She wasn't like the Mask Chasers who thought this was all fun and games and beating up bad guys in dumb costumes. She could die, and she nearly had more times than she wanted to think about. Too many times there'd been a knife that almost cut through skin or a bullet that whizzed by inches from her head. It was odd how numbed she'd become to it. It didn't even make her heart race anymore.

Lana said the first thing she could to dispel the heavy atmosphere.

"So...is this the part where you come out of the closet?" Sue's face was blank for a second before her eyes widened and her face looked more like a blonde tomato, "Cause I should probably tell you now that I'm not really into chicks and that stalker shrines are a dealbreaker-"

"Th-That's not what I meant!"

"Oh? Cause here I was looking forward to screaming about our love."

"Y-You know I like Gabriel!" Yeah, that still made her laugh. America's Sweetheart had a crush on the former weed dealer turned amateur hacker vigilante. Apparently it started when Gabe tracked down a crazy, obsessed prick cyber stalking and threatening her for 'being a disloyal slut. He made sure the cops found out and the guy was put away for long time.

Gabe didn't even tell her about it - MVP just mentioned it off-hand once and the blonde was smitten ever since. Poor Gabe didn't even know; Sue didn't tell him anything.

"Huh? So what were those longing looks all abo-"

"Lana!" Lana raised her head and laughed, completely ignoring Sue's 'glare', "I was being serious!"

"I know, but you really need to stop bugging about it!" Lana snorted, "Look, I'm not going to pretend that I haven't come  _really_  close sometimes, but that's just part of being Striker. I'm not going to spend every day worrying that maybe this time I won't be so lucky. You shouldn't think about it either. I don't plan on dying anytime soon, alright?"

Sue still looked hesitant, but she eventually nodded, "O-Okay."

"Good. So, let's change the subject cause I've had enough drama for today."

"Um...alright, so..there's this new role I've been encouraged to take." The blush didn't fade from Sue's cheeks. Not a good sign, "It's...more risque than my usual, but my agents think it's a good thing. I'm 17 now and they wanna start putting me in more...enticing roles, if that's the word? They said they want to wean off the America's Sweetheart reputation now that I'm getting older."

"Makes sense, I guess?" Sex sells. Didn't matter if it was a celebrity in a bikini or a prostitute sucking you off in an alley; people paid either way, "So what's the role?"

"I'm supposed to play the lead villainess. She's a sexpot baroness type. You know what I'm talking about?" She didn't, but Lana nodded all the same, "Right, well, they sent me the costume a couple of days ago and the props to go with and I'm...I'm still not sure I like the idea of people seeing me wearing it."

"Please, have you looked out the window lately? No one has any shame anymore." Except Pete. If there was one thing he could agree with Spider-Gwen about, it was how much of a shame it was that he didn't like skintight material.

"Maybe..." She bit her lower lip, "Could I show you? Appearing in front of a friend might help me psyche myself up."

"Sure- oh, wait, maybe I should call Gabe over first?" Lana grinned.

"N-No! That's-"

"I'm just kidding! Yeesh, just go change into your dominatrix outfit. I'll be here."

As it turned out, dominatrix outfit wasn't far off the mark. Sue stepped out of the room wearing a skintight ensemble that looked like it was almost painted on her. The top was zipped up just enough for her boobs and midriff to still be on display and the heeled boots and ass chafing pants looked like they cut off the blood flow to her legs. It almost reminded her of Black Cat's outfit.

Oh, and of course there was the fucking  _whip_ , which Sue was holding in a way that made it obvious she was resisting the urge to chuck it out the window into the unforgiving streets below.

Sue made a 'villainous' pose and Lana almost burst out laughing, "S-So, what do you think?" Sue asked softly.

"...Are you sure you're not gay? Cause between the confession and that whip I'm really starting to-"

Sue threw it right at her face. Lana ducked to avoid the flying leather and laughed as Sue glared down at her, "Pfft, is-is that your evil look?! C-Cause I'm shaking in my boots!" Sue continued to futilely try and glare down at her before eventually the absurdity of the situation made her laugh too. Lana was glad. For a big time celebrity the girl could be a major wallflower.

Eventually Sue calmed down enough to sit down next to Lana, "So you see my issue." Sue looked down at her outfit with a frown, "I know acting is about taking up multiple roles, but this is just... _ugh_ , I feel like the only reason I'm wearing this is because it'll make teenage boys flock to the theatres."

"Probably is." Thank God Lana scrapped her own first design. Hotpants were definitely  _not_  the way to go, "Still, can't you just complain to your manager or something?"

"Mmh, Victor already tried, but the director was insistent on this. I could just quit, I guess, but I really don't want to just give up." Her shoulders sagged and she looked up at the ceiling.

"Look on the bright side: I'm pretty sure Gabe'll think the outfit's hot."

"I'd rather just talk to him normally." Sue gave her a flat look.

"Then do it."

"It's not...It's not that easy." Lana rolled her eyes. Yes, it really was. Who the hell would say no to Sue freaking Storm asking them out on a date? Worst thing that could happen was her fanboy legion getting pissy, but a few keyboard warriors were hardly worse than the criminals whose hideouts Gabe kept busting into, "It's just...I mean, we don't even really talk that much and he doesn't know that I know he helped me."

"Oh my god, this circular bullshit!" Lana groaned, "Sue, seriously, what the heck is the issue? You're hot, you're a celebrity, and you're one of the nicest people I know! You really shouldn't be bugging about this!"

"But..." Lana huffed and, before Sue could react, stood and tossed the whip into Sue's lap. The blonde gingerly picked it up and by the time she looked to Lana again the brunette held up her phone with a grin, "What are you-"

"Say cheese!"

The sudden flash made Sue drop the whip in surprise. The blonde stood and Lana backed away, "H-Hey, what are you going to do with that picture?"

"Hm, oh I just thought Gabe could see the costume too." Sue's already wide eyes practically jumped out of her face at that.

"Y-You can't!" Sue shouted in a panic. Lana had a downright  _evil_  grin.

"Oh, I totally can! Of course, I  _could_  be convinced to delete them if you just stopped dicking around and told the guy you wanted to ask him out."

"B-But-"

"Sending now!"

"Okay, okay! I'll...I'll ask him out soon, alright?!" Lana continued to grin at Sue as the blonde plopped back on the couch and glared up at her, "You're evil. You know that, right?"

"And yet you still hang out with me." The phone suddenly rang, "Cin? What's up?"

"I need you to come in and answer some questions."

"Uh...whatever it is, I didn't do it."

"Relax, you're not in trouble." She laughed softly, "It's the opposite, actually. You remember those people you saved from the docks a few nights ago?"

"Yeah, kinda hard to forget..."

"Well we found some evidence linking them to some disappearances going on in the city that I'm currently investigating. So could you come in? I tried to contact Spider-Girl but she's not picking up."

"Yeah, she went out of town to meet her dad. I'll call Gabe too, he was the one who gave us the info." She said her goodbyes to Cindy and, after subsequently informing Gabriel, turned back to Sue, "Sorry, I gotta go. Duty calls."

"I could drive you there, if you want?"

"Uh...sure, but you might wanna change your outfit. Unless you wanna go out like that; ain't judging."

Five minutes later she and a red faced Sue were driving to the police station on Sue's fancy blue corvette. She kinda felt like a prick riding around in this thing, and it wasn't just cause Sue had insisted on driving her. Lana looked outside the window and let her mind wander again. She wondered what Cindy wanted. She didn't exactly jot down notes after they rescued those people.

"See ya later, Sue."

The two did their personal handshake and Lana went down. A few of the officers gave her some looks (she wasn't wearing her costume), but as soon as she flashed the Initiative Card at the receptionist and said she was visiting Spinerette they obliged her, "She's in the lower floor. Two of your acquaintances were already paged in." Lana's brows furrowed. Two? Did Gabe take someone with him?

She opened the door to Cin's office and groaned as soon as he saw Frog-Man standing next to Gabe. She saw the guy around occasionally, but she couldn't say they were friends. Or even acquaintances, really; she stopped talking to him when Kamala moved out and the game nights stopped. It was a good idea all around. From what she heard the guy had a habit of trying and failing to be Frog-Man the Incredible.

Gabriel shrugged with a helpless smile while Cin leaned across her table with her fingers massaging her temples, clearly annoyed, "Oh, Striker! It's good to see you again!" Patillio took her hand in a limp handshake.

"Yeah, you too..." She pulled her hand back, "So...what are you doing here?"

"Oh, Gabriel told me about your meeting and I assumed that you could use some help!" Lana looked past frogger to glare at Gabriel. He shrugged again and mouthed something she couldn't make out, "So, what's the problem? Is there a villain that needs stopping?"

"No," Cin interrupted forcefully, "I called the  _two_ of them here because I wanted to ask some questions. Nothing more, nothing less."

"O-Oh..." Frogger seemed to actually deflate at that.

"So, back to business." Lana sat next to Gabe while Frogger stood awkwardly stood behind them, "All the people you two saved were taken under police protection afterwards. Almost all of them are back with or in contact with their families already, but a few are still here pending. We did some investigating and I think that we can connect them to a current case where Gifted are being kidnapped."

"How do you mean?" Lana asked.

"All of the people who were being...traded-" her face knotted in distaste, "-were present in New York when the Terrigen wave hit." Oh yeah, she remembered that. People thought they'd get badass superpowers and most of them just ended up with the super awesome power to grow their nails four times as fast. Definitely wouldn't have helped them if some assholes pointed guns and put them in a shipping container.

"So...you think that this is connected to your case about Gifted being kidnapped?" Lana asked.

"Yes. And even if it isn't, this falls under my watch. So, I'm gonna need any information."

"That's more Gabe's thing." She gestured to the quiet teen, "He was the one who got the info. Me and An-  _Spider-Girl_  wouldn't have know otherwise." She had to remind herself that Frogger was behind her. No secret identities.

"Really?" Cindy raised a brow while Gabe shyly sunk into his seat, "Well, can't be too surprised since you're Lana's friend. Alright, so can you give me anything."

"W-Well, I already gave the USB the police. I-I dropped it off anonymously with a note." Lana smiled. The guy was  _obsessed_  with not being seen, "But, I did overhear something. They mentioned that their boss was making deals with some bigshot businessman in New York. They said he was the one buying all the 'products'."

"A single buyer? Hmm..." Cin pursed her lips, "Did they mention their boss' name? Or the buyer?"

"Y-Yeah! They called him...Scorpion, I think? The boss, I mean. didn't hear anytning about the buyer."

"Scorpion? Ugh, that guy again. Well, Spider-Woman did say he was back in town. Should've known that asshole wouldn't keep the deal..." Cin sighed, "Anything else? Every little detail helps, Gabriel."

"Um...oh! M-Maybe it's nothing, but one of the goons mentioned how creeped out he was about 'those ninja fucks' they worked with."

"Ninjas? Shit, 99 percent chance that means the Hand have their fingers in this pie too..." Cin sighed again, "I gotta call Pete, get him in on this. He knows those cosplayers better than anyone."

"The Hand? Aren't those the guys who followed that demon around? I thought you and Spider-Man and the rest of the Defenders beat em all?" Frogger asked Lana.

"We took out of most of em, but they're like roaches. Always manage somehow." Lana sneered. She should've known taking down Murdock wouldn't stop them.

Cindy looked to Gabriel, "I'm the last person to judge, but I'm guessing from what Lana said you do this 'sneaking in' thing a lot?" Gabriel nodded hesitantly, probably afraid he'd get in trouble, "Hmm...well, if you're not stopping - and I don't like the idea of arresting someone trying to do the right thing - you're gonna need some backup. I have a friend, Norah Winters. She's experienced in this kinda thing. Think you could help her out?"

"N-Norah Winters? I've read up on her exposes on the Kingpin and those Darkweb hackers!" Lana covered her mouth and smiled. Of course he'd be a fanboy of journalists instead of whatever teenage boys liked nowadays, "O-Of course I'd help!"

Lana smirked at Cin, "Well, I guess this means I'm helping you...out..."

"Something wrong, Lana?" Cindy asked worriedly.

"H-Hey, what happened to the ones we rescued that are still here?"

"Huh? Like I said we're keeping them under custody. Why?"

"Wh-What about Aracely?" Lana said in a panic.

Cindy blinked in confusion, "Aracely? Who's that?"

"Aracely! One of the people we saved! Little Mexican girl, loves to blab? Not ringing any bells?" Lana stood up and couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach, "I told the cop who visited the hospital everything about her!"

Cindy's brows furrowed, "What are you talking about? I got all the reports on the victims and not a single one of them mentioned a Mexican girl in the hospital. We thought we had all the victims here. It's for their own protection."

"Then that means..." It meant there was a damn good chance that guy wasn't a cop...and right now Aracely was alone, "Shit...shit! We have to go! Now!"

* * *

"Alright Gwen, you can do this..." Gwen took as she stood in front of the door to her house. Webster warmed her stomach, but it didn't do much to help. She'd been here last night, but Dad and Jess took Helena to visit Jess' sister. It was a mixed blessing. She'd wanted to tell them all and Peter at once, just...get it over with before she could change her mind and postpone it again.

**'We have to tell them, Gwen.'**

_Easy for you to say! You're not the one breaking the news! And_ you  _were the one who got pregnant!'_  she thought hotly. Seeing Peter - stoic, almost always in control Peter -  _lose his shit_  when she told him last night just made the spiders in her stomach worse. If he took it that badly how would her dad - her sweet, overprotective dad - take it? Jess might've been cool, but that did little to diminish the fact that he still had a revolver in the house.

Gwen knocked on the door.

The person who greeted her wasn't who she expected, "Hello, Gwen." Aunt May gave her a wrinkled smile. Gwen's mouth opened in shock and, before she could think better of it, she pulled the woman in a crushing embrace, "Woah! It's nice to see you too!"

"A-Aunt May! Why are you here?!"

"We thought we could visit for a few days. Come on inside."

Gwen's smile turned into a full on grin when she saw all of the occupants in the living room. Her dad and Uncle Ben were on the couch watching a game while Jess and her mom played with Helena in her crib. The older blonde looked up and gave her a hesitant smile, "Hey, kiddo- woah!" Gwen pulled her into a desperate embrace and held her tight, "G-Gwen, too tight! Super strength, remember?"

"M-Mom, you're..." She (reluctantly) parted from the older woman, though she still kept a tight grip on her shoulders, "I-I didn't think you'd..."

"I...truth be told I almost didn't, but Ben and May cheated and told George and Jess I was here. Jess kinda...dragged me over here. And I mean that literally; she put me over her shoulder like a cavewoman and ignored my arguments."

"I've been carrying a baby for months, Helen. You banging on my back was easy." Jess scoffed playfully.

"Well you can't blame me for not wanting to go!"

"I don't see why. We never blamed you for what Murdock did," her sad said. Gwen's hands clenched into tight fists.  _Murdock_. She still couldn't believe that Peter was working with that bastard. Thank  _God_  he didn't take the D.A's deal to be that fucker's roommate.

"I know, George, but-"

"Hey, no buts," Gwen interrupted forcefully, "This is your home and you're always welcome, so enough about Murderdock."

"Too right. Life's too short to think about regrets," Uncle Ben said with a grin, "We've got some new stories to tell you guys. You wouldn't think of it, but France is a  _really_  exciting place. Me and May were there when the Eiffel tower was cut down and lemme tell ya..."

Hours passed with all of them just exchanging stories and catching each other up. Her mom told them about the flower shop she ran and, after a lot of prodding, eventually admitted that she was seeing a frequent customer of hers. Gwen felt somewhat sad at the news. She was happy her mom was moving on, of course, but it also meant the chances of her moving back to New York permanently were slim to none.

Ben and May were doing good as well. The place S.H.I.E.L.D put them in was comfy and Ben made a decent living as a general handyman for the apartment building they stayed at. Again, just another reminder that this was a temporary visit for the three of them.

"Anything new with you, kiddo? Besides the superheroics, I mean." Her mom asked.

"Oh...well...there's  _something_."

**'Tell them now, Gwen.'**

"Right, um...could everyone gather round?" Everyone immediately noticed her serious tone and quieted down. Gwen took a deep breath, "I'm...I'm actually really glad you're all here. Um...there's something I have to tell you all, and since you're all family this is as good a time as any. I mean I would've preferred if Peter was here too, but I already told him last night and I just-"

**'You're rambling.'**

"What's wrong, honey?" Her dad asked worriedly.

"Alright, so...there's no easy way to say this, so I'll just blurt it out." She took a deep breath to steady herself, "I'm...I mean,  _we're_  pregnant."

A pregnant (heh...focus!) silence engulfed the room. Gwen resisted every urge to close her eyes or walk away to ignore the all-encompassing quiet. She looked at each of them in turn. All of them were in various states of shock, sans Jessica who seemed more confused than anything else. Ben and May held onto each other's hands in a vice grip, her mom covered her mouth with both hands and whispered to herself while her dad...

Her dad was looking at the cabinet. The one that had his revolver in it.  _Shit_.

Before she could even say anything Helena suddenly burped and and started laughing. That seemed to jolt them out of whatever shock they were in, "Oh my God..." Aunt May was...crying?! "Oh, Gwen...I'm so happy for you both!"

"Uh...thanks?" she asked back weakly. She knew they'd be supportive, but this was kinda weird.

"I didn't think it'd happen so soon, but congratulations!" Ben grinned, "We should probably start planning for the wedding now, huh?" Gwen blinked. Wedding? What the heck was he talking about?

"I'm so happy for you both...though, I  _did_  tell you about protection, right? Or did you and little Peter choose to do it deliberately?" Her mom asked. It took Gwen a few seconds before the full implications of what she said finally kicked in and her eyes widened to the size of plates, "I'm not complaining, though! I'm all for having a grandkid to spoil, especially now, I'm just hoping this isn't a shotgun oopsie thing."

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold on a second!" Gwen stood up in a panic. Her dad tried to wheel his way to the cabinet and Gwen blocked his way frantically, "J-Just hold up, alright?! I think there's been a misunderstanding!"

"There's no misunderstanding." Oh God, he had the dad smile on his face. Not good, "I'm...happy for you both. Now, if you don't mind I'd like to call Peter over here so we can discuss this alone. Just the two of us."

He tried to slip past Gwen to reach the dreaded cabinet and Gwen screamed the first thing she could, "It's not Peter's baby!" They looked shocked again, but she was in too much of a panic to stop, "It's Webster's! She got pregnant cause apparently that's a thing symbiotes do and now we're - Webster and me - pregnant and carrying a little goop baby and ohgoddadstoplookingatthefuckingcabinet!"

**'Rambling again.'**

_'Quiet, you!'_

The next stretch of quiet was even more stifling than the last, if you could believe it. It didn't last long before Jessica suddenly snorted, "Yeah, I figured as much." Oddly enough, she didn't sound sarcastic at all. Everyone, Gwen included, gave her a look, "...What? Our life's fucking crazy, of course this shit happens! Besides, it makes sense. Parker's only been here, what, 4 or 5 days? Even if he and Gwen did it the  _second_  he came back there's no way she'd know she was pregnant. Takes like half a month before the tests even work."

"O-Oh...yes, that makes sense." May said sadly. Gwen suddenly felt like she'd kicked a dog, "I...guess we got overexcited."

"You and...that symbiote?" Her dad looked like his head was gonna explode, "I just...um..."

"Wait, I'm confused. Does this mean you broke up with Peter?" Her mom asked, "And if you did, I didn't think that um...I dunno what to call her, sorry. Whatever, how does that work? I mean, who's carrying the baby and how did you two...you know?"

"Oh my god..." Gwen covered her eyes with both hands and groaned. Webster jutted out of her shoulder and rubbed her face against Gwen's cheek. It didn't help, "No, me and Peter aren't broken up." Why did everyone keep asking her that? "As for the baby...it's hard to explain the science. Apparently Webster did it on her own. Asexual reproduction like some jellyfish. I was not involved."

**"It may or may not contain her genetic data. I'm unsure,"** Webster added,  **"We plan to visit Janet to get clarification."**

"So...when you said  _we're_  pregnant, you meant you and the symbiote? Peter is not involved?" Her dad asked. She nodded. At least as far she knew he wasn't involved, "Well...I'll admit I'm not so sure what to do for this situation."

"Maybe going back and not looking at the cabinet will help?" Gwen smiled awkwardly.

It was, of course, at that very moment that Peter decided to finally make his grand entrance. He stepped past the door and breathed softly in obvious frustration, "Sorry it took so long, there was a..." He stopped when he caught everyone in the room staring at him, "Alright...I'm guessing by the quiet that Gwen told you the same thing she told me last night."

"Yeah...but, why are you covered in soot and blood?" her mom asked.

"Something went wrong." How screwed up was it that she didn't even feel that worried? "Don't worry, no one died...mostly." Her dad frowned at the joke(?), "Still, what are you all doing here? Especially you two?"

"Not happy to see us, son?" Ben smiled.

"Of course I am, I wouldn't have stayed three months in France if i didn't. It's just that you both know it's still not safe to stay here, right?"

"Don't worry, we're just visiting," May said reassuringly, "Come on and have a seat. Oh, but you might wanna clean yourself up first."

It took a little bit of prodding, but eventually he told them about what he was up to before he got there. He didn't tell them about Murderdock, which Gwen was just fine with. That bastard didn't deserve any more notice than they already gave him.

Eventually May, Ben and her mom said their goodbye; they were staying at a hotel in town despite dad's insistence they could stay over. Gwen waited till the both of them were outside before she asked, "So what really happened? Without the censorship."

"It's pretty accurate, actually. Me and Matt ran through the building and I got to Murakami. Almost had him before that old hag Gao stepped in." He clicked his tongue and looked like he was about to grab a cigarette before reining it in, "Met this woman...Matt said she was part of the Hand, but for some reason she decided to help us. Spider-sense didn't ring at all so I'm givin' her the benefit of the doubt."

"That's it?"

"Well, someone left Matt bleeding out on the floor, but that's not all that worrying." She still had no idea why Peter called him that. 'Matt'...like they were friends or something. What was wrong with Murderdock? "Left him at his mom's place so she can patch him up."

"Did he...do anything to you? Anything at all?"

"Ah...noth-"

"You're lying."

"-ing really." They stared at each other awkwardly, Peter defensive while Gwen glared at him, "Didn't even let me finish."

"Cause it's BS. There's no way that asshole didn't try something, so spill."

"He didn't try to kill me, if that's what you're worried about." Gwen crossed her arms and pursed her lips, "...Okay, fine, just don't be mad." He pulled out a cigarette and lit it after some hesitation, "...When we were in the elevator together he said he loved me. That's it." He said it in the same way tone you'd use when talking about someone who spilled hot tea on you.

It didn't help. At all.

"He  ** _what?!_** " Peter actually stepped back at her scream. If she could look in a mirror she would've seen the dark veins that ran up her neck and how her teeth had begun to sharpen, "What the fuck?! Are you serious?!"

"Gwen-"

"Okay, no, you aren't going near that asshole again!"

"Gwen!" He let the cigarette drop and grabbed both of her shoulders tightly, "Stop worrying. I'm not his friend and I don't care what he said." He cupped her right cheek and the symbiote covered the surface of his fingers, "Me and him are never going to be friends, so don't worry. Alright?"

Gwen took a deep breath and looked away. The suit retreated back under her skin, "...I don't like this."

"Neither do I, but for now I have to play ball. Page still has Bullseye over me and the Hand needs to be buried." They faced each other again. Gwen was about to lean in and kiss him before a sudden vibration cut through the air, "That's my phone..." He (disappointingly) stepped back and frowned at the message on the screen, "Gotta go."

"Murderdock again?" she asked, more than a little resentful.

"No, but might be just as bad." He sighed and pocketed the phone, "Satana Hellstrin just called...she wants to meet."

"Great, I don't even have to guess with a name like that." She rubbed at her forehead in frustration. Why did he have to get involved with all this supernatural bullshit? What happened to good old mad science gone wrong? "Alright, I'm going with you this time."

"But-"

"Nope. I turn around and next thing I know you're gonna tell me you're married."

"Don't be silly...that contract's not binding."

* * *

The place they went to wasn't what she expected. She thought they'd go to some abandoned farm in the middle of nowhere with some assholes screaming worship in front of a pentagram. Would've fit with everything else so far.

Instead they ended up on a nightclub.

The bouncer took one look at the card Peter had and immediately let them pass. Gwen narrowed her eyes warily. Something about the guy rubbed her wrong. Peter stopped in front of the door and looked back at her slightly, "You remember what I told you?"

"Yeah. Don't touch anything, don't look too long and don't put anything in your mouth." She felt like a kid being told the rules of the bouncy castle.

"And don't get involved  _no matter what_. Trust me, it's not worth it."

The first thing she noticed was the blood red light. She wasn't a stranger to mood lighting, but the sheer pressure of it gave her a headache. Then there was the music. Most nightclub music was loud and chaotic, but this one was a slower beat rock song she couldn't place. Gwen looked down at her hands and clenched them into fists to try and ignore her heart beating against her ears.

Peter led her to the main room and she immediately understood his warnings. On the closest table was a group of at least half a dozen men and women practically tearing through a sack with something struggling inside it. She wanted to think it was a pig judging by its squeals, but the sheer size of the sack did little to assuage the sinking feeling in her gut on how  _wrong_  it was.

And then one of them turned to look at her and she just about froze. On his own he would've looked normal, handsome even: a neat stubble, charcoal suit and somewhat shaggy hair that went to his shoulders. But there were his eyes: blood red just like the lighting in the room with a glow that couldn't be matched by any sort of contact lenses.

A demon. Half-breeds, Peter called them. Either demons or angels that had some part of them that was human or full blooded ones who gave almost everything up because Earth was so much more fun than Heaven or Hell. He'd assured her that, while they were stronger than humans, they definitely couldn't hold a candle to people like her or Cindy. It didn't do much to help her frayed nerves.

Peter grabbed her wrist and dragged her along, "What was that, Peter?" she asked, voice raised so he could hear her over the music.

"Half-breeds feeding. Either a rapist or a child killer or something else. The bigger the crime the more...flavor." His face knotted in distaste. She was torn. A part of her felt relieved that it wasn't someone innocent but at the same time she was still appalled. Even a rapist and a murderer deserved a trial and prison, not...being eaten like he was a fucking pig on a roast.

A few tables down a blonde woman with golden eyes looked up at her with a smirk and blew at the assorted chalices of water in front of her. The clear fluid turned purple - wine, she noted dumbly - and the woman picked it up to take a sip. She didn't break eye contact with Gwen the entire time.

Two more people stared at them. An androgynous looking man with short, blonde hair and golden eyes looked up at them while a woman with long dark hair and red eyes kissed and licked at his right cheek. Despite the kissing and him rubbing her thigh they continued to stare at them both, though Peter paid them no mind. Eventually she followed his example and stubbornly faced ahead.

The door to the owner's room opened slowly when they arrived. An old, heavyset man in a suit stepped out. His eyes were red and the nasty scar - a burn mark, it looked like - that ran up the right side of his face only added to his menacing presence. He glared at Peter as he passed, which he only responded to with a glare of his own.

The moment was broken when a call came from inside, "Don't just stand there, come in!" The high, cheerful voice almost made her jump up. It sounded way too normal considering the place they were at.

Peter opened the door and Gwen almost immediately felt a rush of relief. The blood red lights were gone replaced by a more neutral tone. The inside was almost comfy: upper class furniture, a few paintings on the walls and a mahogany desk that reminded her of the one her dad had.

Gwen stopped mid-stride when she finally saw the room's owner. An older woman with snow white skin and hair to match. She was dressed in a bright red skintight material that left large swathes of her side and her chest - from her breasts to her navel - exposed. She looked up at them with a coy smile and Gwen swallowed nervously as her heart suddenly sped up. Everything about her from her eyes to her long lashes to her cherry red lips were beautiful.

She didn't even care that the woman had what looked like white ram horns jutting out of her forehead. She was that hot.

Peter suddenly scowled next to her, "Enough with the mindgames, Satana."

"Oh? Whatever do you mean?" She crossed one leg over the other casually.

"You know what I mean. Quit it before I turn around and let you deal with whatever this is on your own."

"Fine...spoilsport."

All at once Gwen felt the haze lift and she gasped. She looked at the white haired woman again and blinked. She was still pretty, sure, but not to the point that Gwen drooled at the sight of her, "...What the fuck was that?" Gwen whispered to Peter.

"A little trick I like to play sometimes. Just a mild pheromonal effect." She -  _Satana_ , Gwen reminded herself - giggled, "It's always the innocent ones that are the most fun."

"I-"

"Why did you call me here." Peter stepped closer to the desk and blocked Gwen from view.

"What, can't I just see an old friend? We haven't seen each other since we averted armageddon." Peter told her about that. The details kinda flew over her head, but apparently some guy wanted to kill an angel and that'd somehow lead to Hell on earth and a thousand years of suffering or something. Between that and Red Skull's crazy daughter she wondered if someone was planning to blow up the earth's core right this second.

"I'd buy that if it was Ketch or Daimon, not you. You want something."

"Always so cynical." She sighed theatrically and steepled her hands together as she leaned forward, a sudden predatory smile on her face, "So, a little birdie told me you're fighting with the Hand."

"What's it to you? You don't care about that."

"You're right. Normally I wouldn't, but this group has...insulted me." Peter's eyes narrowed, "Apparently they didn't learn their lesson about dealing with the Beast and wanted to try making a deal with another demon for immortality."

"Wait, seriously?" Gwen asked, "Peter killed their old demon boss and now they're trying to find another one?"

"Humans are prone to repetition," Satana said, "And if it helps, it doesn't seem like the entire group is for it. Just that cult led by the one calling himself Bakuto." She waved a hand through the air, "Now normally I wouldn't care, like Petey said - what's a little soul dealing here and there? But then they just had to go and deliberately snub me to make a deal with that old  _bitch_  Lilith and her children."

"Lilith? She's around? Thought we dealt with most of her brood..." Peter muttered.

"Oh yes. She and that spawn of hers, 'Blackout', have been seen around town recently. Danny's coming over soon to deal with them and I figured you'd want in."

"Meaning you wanna use me as a proxy in your war..."

"Always so cynical! I'm giving you an olive branch here, Petey! You need to stop the Hand and I don't want that hag gaining another leg up on me. It's a mutually beneficial deal." She smiled coyly, "But if you insist, I don't mind owing you a favor for this, even if I  _am_  doing you a favor by telling you this. If you make sure this deal goes through then I'll owe you. How's that sound?"

"Sounds like something with strings attached." Peter scoffed.

"Cynical. Always cynical." She sighed and looked past him to Gwen. The blonde suddenly froze up when, before either she or Peter could react, the white haired demoness was suddenly in front of her. Gwen stepped back and the woman smiled, "But enough about business. Let's talk about your delicious friend here." She put a hand on Gwen's cheek and she froze. Bad touch, bad touch! "She oozes virtue and innocence. Odd, for a human."

Peter grabbed Satana's wrist and growled, "Stay away from her."

"I'm not planning to hurt her!" Satana pouted, "It's quite the opposite, really. People who claim goodness are a dime a dozen, especially in New York, but to see someone so honestly pure...it's almost too much to resist." Peter stepped in front of her, but Satana paid him no mind, "Hey, you're Spider-Woman, right? No need to answer, it's easy enough to tell. Innocence like you comes around only once every century."

"Uh...thanks?" She might've felt flattered if the woman wasn't looking at her the same way Gwen looked at a particularly enticing corndog.

"Hey, you want to give your soul to me?" Gwen blanched. Did she  _really_  just say that? "Oh, I don't mean right now or anything! I meant later when you die. Someone like you is on the fast track to Heaven, but do you  _really_  want to go up there? It's just church for all eternity! Boring! Personal Hells are where it's at! Who wants to spend the rest of forever singing and praying when they can party with all their favorite rockstars and shoot up with no consequences?"

"Um..."

"I tried to give the same deal to Petey, but he didn't budge, so how about you? My denizens would  _love_ having a Superhero on attraction, especially someone as famous as you. I'll give you anything you want in exchange!" She was uncomfortably close to her and Peter now, "What do you say? Want to give me your soul?"

"Enough!" Peter shoved her off, "We didn't come here to hear your pitch, Satana. If you've said all you need to say then we're leaving."

"I'll get you too eventually, Petey. You and this delicious little thing." Ugh, she'd never felt so objectified in her life; and she'd seen Spider-Woman porn! "Oh, before you go, you should probably know Blade's looking to ask for your help. Something about vampire schoolgirls?"

"...Fine."

They left far faster than when they went inside. Gwen didn't even realize she was holding her breath before she suddenly took a large, desperate gulp of air as soon as they were outside in the cold alley. Gwen put her hands on her knees and panted. Did Peter really deal with these kinds of things daily? Cause if he did then he had no fucking business calling what she got up to a Madhouse!

"...I told you shouldn't have come." Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed deeply.

"It wasn't...that bad." Gwen stood up straight again, "Besides, it's...kinda flattering, in way?"

"I wouldn't trust her. She's not above making a deal with one of the anti-christ; I know cause I was there. I still got a bullet in that weasel's head." Gwen blinked. Did Peter just say he planned to kill the anti-christ? Or that there was more than one?

**'She asked for your soul, Gwen. Would that include me?'** Webster asked suddenly.

_'I...I dunno. I'm not really sure how this works. If souls are real that means you have your own, right?'_

**'...I wonder if we'll be together when this ends. I don't want to lose you.'**

Her (depressing) inner monologue was cut off when she heard the tapping of a cane against the ground. At first she thought it was Murdock - paranoia from last year's hell - but when she turned to the source she found a stranger. He was pale and frail looking with long, somewhat unkempt hair. He was dressed in an all black ensemble and the swathes of skin on his arms, chest and neck were covered in intricate tattoos and he used the steel cane to walk slowly towards them.

And then Peter suddenly smiled.

"Daimon." The frail looking man reciprocated the smile and accepted the hand Peter offered. The handshake was firm and Gwen made a surprised Noir when Peter practically hugged the guy, "You are a sight for sore eyes, old friend."

"And you as well." His voice was soft and somewhat raspy, though oddly comforting, "I'm assuming my sister's told you of the situation?"

"Yeah..."

"Uh...kinda confused here, Pete," Gwen cut in.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. This is Daimon Hellstrom, brother to Satanna, son to Satan and prophecied as the true Anti-Christ. Also a really nice guy."

"You flatter me." He chuckled softly. Gwen was still trying to focus on the 'Anti-Christ son of Satan who's also a nice guy' bit, "As pleasant as it is to see you again, I feel I should inform you that my sister wasn't lying: Lilith and her spawn are indeed present in this city. I'll be aiding you and Daniel in when the need arises."

"Are you sure? You...don't look like you've recovered. You gave up a lot to keep me, Ketch and Satana alive..."

"A worthy exchange. And yes, I should be fine." He raised his free and focused on the tattoos, "I've found a way to...compensate to an extent. You and Daniel will have to do most of the fighting, of course, but I'll pull my weight."

The two of them exchanged pleasantries for a minute before eventually saying their goodbyes. Gwen just watched her twice resurrected boyfriend chat up the son of Satan and said the first thing that came to mind.

"This place is a madhouse."

Peter laughed. She looked at him in mock offense till both his phone and her prioricard rang, "Huh?" She looked down at the compact screen and saw an SOS coming from Cindy's card along with a location. Across from her Peter took a frantic call from Lana.

"Looks like Cindy's in trouble."

"Lana too. Apparently they're together." Peter put on his mask while Gwen shifted into her costume, "Let's go."

* * *

She couldn't believe she was doing this.

Mary Jane took a deep breath as she lowered into a crouch on the side of the building, the cold night air whipping her hair around mercilessly. She was high up; so high that the people below looked like ants and everything blurred together in a haze of moving light.

Her fingers pressed against the window tightly. She couldn't crawl on walls the same way as Gwen, but Crimson allowed her to copy easily enough - just add some of the suit to her fingertips and, failing that, stab her claws into the walls, "Come on, Mary Jane..." She shook her head. Right now she really wanted a hood to shield her face, but Crimson refused. Apparently it and Lana agreed on at least one thing.

**_'What are you waiting for?'_ **

_'Gimme a fucking second!'_  She took another deep breath. This was her idea, she reminded herself. If she wanted to do more than add scumbag's bodies to the pile then she needed to do something different, and what better way to start than with a literal leap of faith? She'd seen Gwen make jumps like these in her sleep, so she should try too. She had a new costume; now she needed to own up to it.

**'Jump!'**

She jumped.

The glass shattered behind her, but the brief noise was quickly drowned out by the rush of air as she plummeted. Mary Jane stumbled through the air briefly before she eventually managed to right herself,  _'Now!'_  She turned around and shot two lines of blood red webbing from her knuckles. The two lines flew upwards till they attached themselves to the side of the building.

Mary Jane grunted as she was suddenly pulled back by her arms with enough force to tear someone normal in half. She raised in a wide arm through the air and let go at the peak. She shot another line of webbing to a nearby building and and ran along the ground to give herself some momentum. It wasn't as effortless or automatic as Gwen, but it was exciting all the same.

A cargo truck came on the intersection. Mary Jane jumped and landed on the bed of the container before jumping across the roofs of the cars ahead of her. A few people frantically swung around their phones to record or take pictures. Mary Jane jumped higher onto a flagpole jutting out of the side of a building and used it to propel herself higher before shooting another line of webbing.

"Ha!" she screamed in excitement. This was the first time she'd had fun with it. Just a couple of days ago webswinging was just a way for her to get to places - to get to killing - faster. Now she was doing it for its own sake and it was fun.

She jumped across two close by building and swung to a brightly lit, wide office building window. Mary Jane ran along the side and and gave a casual wave to the employees as she passed, some of whom stood up or fell out of their chair entirely in shock. Mary Jane grinned and jumped into the nearby rooftop, remembering every single amateur parkour vid she watched on the youwebs.

It was only when she reached the edge of a particularly tall building that she finally stopped. Mary Jane put her hands on her knees and lower her mask to her neck. She panted for a few seconds and grinned, "Wow..."

**_'Had your fun?'_  **Crimson asked grumpily.

_'Yes, believe it or not.'_ She sat the edge of the building and looked down at her hands, her artificially lengthened hair spilling past the edge of the roof. Covered in red but not covered in blood. It was...an odd feeling, being happy to be in costume.

**_'Now what?'_ **

_'Now we go on patrol.'_  She stood and pulled her mask back up. It was the second part of her plan to try and...normalize the thing, if you could ever make this normal. Crimson had growled and groaned that it was pointless, but it was a give and take. She spent the past few months feeding the thing, now it was time for it to pay her back.

She wanted to say it meant there'd be no more killing, but she wasn't that naive. Crimson wouldn't be pacified forever and, if she was being honest, the people she went after deserved it. Murderers, rapists, human traffickers, baby killers...monsters who got away with their crimes for one reason or another and felt no shred of remorse; not until her hands were around their neck and they finally faced the consequences.

She just didn't want that to be all her life.

The next few hours were spent just stopping whatever crime she could. A few muggings here, one assault there. She didn't kill any of them, not even the one prick who kept screaming about how 'all you fucking bitches are the same!' after she stopped him from smashing that girl's ahead against the wall. He'd be in prison soon enough, and if he didn't tried something again...well, she'd do something about it.

She was just about to turn in when she heard a scream, a woman this time...and oddly familiar. Mary Jane swung the short distance over and saw a guy in a mask running down an alley with a purse in his hands. Somehow she doubted it belonged to him,  ** _'This is a waste of our time,'_**  Crimson groused. Mary Jane ignored it. She jumped, flipped mid fall and kicked the guy straight across his back.

The guy fell and the purse flew through the air. Mary Jane snagged it with a line of webbing, making sure to not make the tip barbed, and pulled it back towards her, "Stay there for a sec." She webbed the guy's hands and feet down so he was spread eagle and facing the ground. He was just a purse snatcher, so nothing too bad.

A pair of hesitant footsteps came from behind. Mary Jane turned with a grin and froze when she saw a familiar head of red hair, practically the exact same shade as her own, "Mary..." She almost dropped the purse in her surprise. In a city with over 8 and a half million people, what were the chances she'd run into her? Especially so late at night?

"Y-You know my name?" The other redhead asked softly.

"Uh...your nametag." She gestured lamely to the dull clip on her uniform.

"O-Oh, yeah..." Mary Jane awkwardly handed the girl her purse back. She should've swung away at that point, but of course she had to open her mouth again, "What are you doing out so late...young lady?" Mary Jane cringed. She was pretty sure they were the same age, "Most people aren't usually out this late at night."

"Oh, um...my boss wanted me to stay in later. Couldn't refuse the money."

"You still shouldn't have gone through an alley." Yeah, like  _she_  had any room to talk about that.

"I-I know, but I usually cut through this way cause it's faster. I didn't think this would happen tonight..." She held onto her purse slightly, "U-Um...thank you for saving me...um, I'm sorry what was your name?"

"Oh! Uh, Scarlet Spider! And it's no big deal! Just a purse snatcher..." She jerked her thumb to the end of the alley, "Well...I should probably go. You'll be safe?"

"Y-Yeah! It's just a two minute walk from here."

Mary Jane said her goodbyes and swung up to the closest rooftop. Mary watched her go and looked down at her purse. She couldn't do anything when that guy threatened her; he didn't even have a pocket knife. Sighing, she trudged down the alley and stopped when she was next to the struggling purse snatcher. Before she could think better of it, she kicked his side as hard as he could before continuing on her way.

Scarlet Spider...another superhero. There were more of them coming around now. She wondered idly if she was someone who got lucky with that weird mist thing. Mary herself had been out of town when it happened, but if she'd been here back then...

Up on the roof, Mary Jane pulled down her mask and breathed out slowly. That was way too close. She definitely didn't like the idea of being an unmasked hero like Kate or Peter's little sister, "That's enough for tonight..."

She was about to put her mask on before she saw it: explosions and fire. Mary Jane ran to the edge of the building and looked a closer, "A hospital..." That explosion didn't sound like a gas leak.

**_'We are weak to fire. You know this.'_** She actually caught a hint of fear in its voice.

"Doesn't mean I'm just gonna do nothing." Ignoring Crimson's protests, she put her mask back on and swung to the inferno.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter came out a bit sooner and might bog down readers, but I'm actually kinda excited for the next chapter since it'll be the first time all five protagonists - Noir, Gwen, Lana, Cindy and Mary Jane - fight together as a team. I won't be doing these kinds of things a lot since the varying power levels between all five make it difficult for my inexperienced (for writing fight scenes) ass.
> 
> ...Oh, and Frog-Man's there too, but everyone just kinda ignores him.
> 
> Thankfully I managed to cram the Scarlet Spider and nightclub segment into this chapter since I didn't want to postpone it...and yeah, I made Daimon Hellstrom into V. So sue me, I like the character design, and it allows me to differentiate him from Ghost Rider (overwhelming power) and Peter (weaponry and superpowers) by making him a summoner.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. What villains would you like to show up to the hospital fight? I already have a few in mind but I'm still taking suggestions. Please make it someone who can reasonably be fought by street levelers, okay? I ain't putting Ultron here. Bonus points for archetypes since it allows me to vary it up i.e Noir and Cindy fight fire users cause Gwen and MJ can't, Gwen deals with the super strong juggernaut, Lana fights a speedster etc etc.
> 
> 2\. Should I tone down the mystical segments for Noir going forward? Some people might find the nightclub scene and the casual mentions of things like demons, vampires etc etc offputting now that we're in V2.


	11. Five Headless Chickens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I just watched Endgame a couple hours ago. For the sake of avoiding spoilers and not gushing too much I won't say anything, but I would suggest you guys watch it as soon as it comes out for you. 
> 
> Anyway, this chapter was somewhat difficult to write, as expected. I like writing the beginning and ending but the middle part with the actual fighting? Yeah, pretty hard. Thankfully I can avoid big heavy action scenes right now and we split off into the five main arcs starting from here. We'll talk about that later. 
> 
> Also, the MJ/Matt votes are pretty much half in half. Half believe it'd be awesome and the other half think it's dog crap and would ruin the fic. Gotta love that split mentality.

Aracely woke up to screams.

Sitting up with a gasp, the young girl looked outside the dark room in a panic, " _¿H-Hola?_ " She could hear screaming...but it wasn't screaming. It was panicking, crying, voices reaching out over one another into her thoughts. Aracely pressed both hands to her head and whimpered, " _¿H-Hola? ¿Doctor?_ " The doctor would be able to help her. He was kind and always smiled, even when he was sad.

Aracely set her feet on the ground and shivered when the cold floor met skin. She grabbed the side of the bed to pull herself up and tried to ignore the screams. The room was dark; darker than it'd ever been when she stayed here. She didn't like the dark, " _Dónde...?_ " She had to find the doctor. He would give her medicine so she could sleep, help her stop hearing the screams.

She was weak. Every step shook her and she had to grab the wall to keep from falling. Aracely panted and blocked her ears to cover the screaming, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. It wasn't really screaming.

She opened the door and looked around. The hall was dark like her room and she knew that wasn't normal, " _¿Hay alguien aqui?_ " she called out. No response, just more of the screaming not screaming. Aracely whimpered again and walked down the hall. She smelled smoke in the air, like when the people who took them burned someone in front of them teach them what happened if they tried to escape.

The nice people gave her a private room here, said that it was for privacy and so that she could be alone after what she went through. They thought being with others would scare her, but it was the opposite. All those days in the crate, all those screams and and begging, and the only thing that gave her comfort was that she wasn't alone. Some of them had even tried to comfort the others and she remembered a girl her age who cried against her shoulder and said she just wanted to see her parents again.

When the last voice disappeared and she was all alone with nothing but her thoughts was the first time Aracely had cried too.

And then the screaming stopped and Aracely was plunged into silence, " _¿H-Hola?_ " She wanted someone - anyone - to respond, but there was nothing. She grabbed the door leading to the outside hall and the smell of fire became almost overpowering. Aracely coughed and her eyes watched as smoke wafted in from the windows. The hospital was burning.

Taking a deep breath, she quickened her pace to the stairs. She had to leave.

The floor in front of her exploded. Aracely screamed and stumbled back as a man in a suit crashed through and landed on the leftmost wall, "Huh, pack a wallop..." he whispered as he stood. He was tall, easily towering ever her on her tiptoes, with pale white skin and hair and teeth as sharp as a shark's. His suit was covered in dust and tears, but there were no wounds on him.

And then he turned to Aracely and smiled.

"Huh, must be my lucky day." He cracked his neck and strode towards her. Aracely backed away in fear as he reached a hand towards her, "This whole thing's a wash, but at least I can-"

A black and white blur came from the hole and pinned him against the wall. A woman in a full body costume and hood, "Run!" She shot a line of web(?) and yanked open the stairway door before the man grabbed her by the neck and used her as a ram to break through the wall. Aracely ran, hearing the sounds of fighting and struggling behind her. She had to run, had to hide.

She got down into a lower floor before she heard hissing behind her, "Target...acquired..." She screamed and fell on her back when the hissing made way to strangled breathing. A figure appeared out of thin air behind her. He was tall and wiry with a full body suit made of dirty gray fabric. In his hands he had gloves with tipped fingers coated in blood, "Acquiring...target..."

Gunshots came from the window to her right. The man hissed and disappeared again just before a another woman in a black and white costume appeared in front of her, "Aracely, right?" She grabbed Aracely's hand and pulled her up, "Come on, we need to-"

"My...target...!" The man appeared behind her and tried to slash her back. The woman jumped, webbed his back and tried to slam him against the roof. He cut the webs and disappeared again, "Can't...take her...from me...!"

"Wanna bet?" She grabbed Aracely by the arms and said the next words in a rush, "Go limp!"

She threw Aracely through the space between the window. The man hissed in rage and Aracely flew, arcing through the air while water from the rain pelted her. She screamed and stumbled through the air, forgetting to go limp entirely until she finally reached the until then unseen net of webbing.

Aracely couldn't move, " _A-Ayúdame!_ Help!" She struggled against the webbing and continued to scream. The woman and the ghost man were fighting and not paying attention to her at all. She looked down and stopped struggling. She was far from the ground; so far that she would've at least broken her legs. In front of her the hospital burned slowly but steadily under the shower of rain.

She stayed still for at least a minute before a woman in a red costume with equally red hair jumped next to her on the web, "Sorry for taking so long." The tips of her fingers sharpened into claws and she cut through the bindings holding Aracely's arms and legs.

Her relief was short lived. She heard them before she saw them: bees. Only a few at first, but then there was suddenly a swarm of them. The mask on the woman's face widened and she cursed, "Shit! Hang on!" She grabbed Aracely with one hand and swung away. The buzzing overpowered her hearing and as the woman swung away the swarm chased after them.

They didn't get far before a ball of fire shot towards them. Aracely screamed and the woman turned quickly so her back could take the brunt of the attack. They both fell and again the woman shielded her the best she could. Aracely flew from the woman's arms and rolled a short distance away. The teenager moaned in pain and could only watch as a scarred man in a thick, padded suit strode towards her, his face hidden by a metal mask.

"P-Please don't..." Aracely reached a hand out.

More gunshots. The bullets bounced of the fiery man's mask and when he turned he was kicked away by another man wearing black. "Aracely!" Lana knelt down next to her and picked her up while the man helped the woman in red, "Are you alright?"

" _S-Si_...yes." She nodded in a rush. Her head rang and she wanted to puke. Aracely held the other girl tightly and bit back her whimpers. Why was this happening? The screams were back and louder than before. She barely even heard Lana's next words.

"We gotta get you out of here. They're here for you." For her? Why? "God this is a fucking shit show..."

"Are you alright, Mary?" The man asked the woman in red.

"F-Fine. Just a scratch." She stood up and the wound at her back was covered by the red of her costume again, "And the name's Scarlet Spider."

"Now's not the- incoming!"

The buzzing again. Aracely screamed when the bees converged into a humanoid figure wearing a cloak, "More food for the hive." His voice was odd. Buzzing and echoing but with the barest hints of an accent. Next to him the fiery man stood and chuckled, low and deep, "Keep your fire away from my swarm."

"Sure. I want the red one." He pointed at her.

"Go! We'll handle this!" The man in black screamed.

Lana nodded and dragged Aracely forcefully. Aracely looked back and saw them fighting before Lana forced her head forward, "Don't look! It's gonna be alright!" She was lying, but Aracely still found the words comforting. They got to the opposite street away from the hospital, "I'm gonna get you outta here and you'll be safe, okay? We just need to-"

Lana grunted like she'd been hit. The older girl looked around frantically before another invisible blow hit her right cheek and made her stumble away from Aracely, "What's wrong, Bombshell?" a man's voice taunted. Lana fired off explosive blasts to the source and the voice laughed, "Ooh, too slow!" Another hit, this time to her gut. Lana spat out the beginnings of vomit and fell on her knees.

"Lana!" Aracely tried to reach for her only for someone to pull her back. She looked back and found a woman in a black and dark green costume with wings on her arms, " _Déjame ir!_ " She kicked and struggled against the older woman's grip, but the new figure just sighed and smacked her face. The pain made her whimper.

"Got her, Beetle?" A man in a red and blue outfit suddenly appeared in front of her. He was the one who hurt Lana.

"Yeah, sure. I'll make the delivery. You take care of this little brat."

Lana glared up at them, "You do anything to her and I'll-" The man kicked her in the face again.

Aracely cried and screamed as the woman suddenly took flight, " _Déjame ir!_  She struggled harder, uncaring about the consequences of the fall, "Lana, Lana!"

"Ugh, just shut up! This is why I hate kidnapping jobs!" They flew for a few more seconds before landing on a parking lot filled with cars. Aracely bit down on her fingers and winged woman shoved her to the ground, "You listen here, you little shit. Only reason you're still breathing is cause the client's paying full price to make sure you are. You keep pissing me off, though, and I might decide half price for your corpse is good enough."

"...Bring me back to Lana." Aracely glared up at her.

"Oh? And what bargaining chip have you got, little girl?" Aracely's hands clenched into tight fists. She couldn't fight her; even biting down on her fingers made her teeth ache, "That right, just keep glaring. I don't really care 's long as you stay quiet-"

"St-Stop right there!"

The woman looked to the sudden voice and laughed loudly. Aracely looked past her only to see a man in a frog suit with one of its eyes popped out standing there with his hands on his hips and his chest jutting out. The woman continued laughing, "And just who are you supposed to be, huh?" She stepped forward, ignoring Aracely entirely, "You one of those group of 'heroes' from the hospital?"

"Th-That's right, and you'd better let go of that girl now if you know what's good for you!" A figure snuck behind on the nearby cars. The woman didn't see him at all, "D-Didn't you know? Frog eats beetles!"

The woman didn't get a chance to respond before the car to her direct left suddenly turned on and rushed towards her. She didn't get much more than a surprised 'what the f-' when the car plowed into her full speed and crashed into the rest of the cars parked close by. It kept going, running pushing the pinned woman against the rest of the cars and then eventually just running over her entirely. More cars activated and rushed towards her as well before they she was completely encased in vehicles.

"Lana!" A familiar voice called.

She looked up and smiled in at the face underneath the hood, "Gabriel!" He pulled her to her feet and she hugged him in relief, ignoring the throbbing pain on her cheek, " _Gracias, gracias!_ " The man in the frog suit ran up to them and she hugged him too, " _Tu también!_ "

"Y-You're welcome!" The man frog said, "C-Come on, we should go before she gets up!"

"Wh-What about Lana?" she asked in slow English.

"We can't help her. Other heroes are on their way, they can-"

The pile of cars suddenly exploded outward. They all scream, the frog man the loudest of all, and fell to the ground in a panic, "That's it!" The woman screamed. Her costume was damaged and one of the eyes off her masks had popped out, showing parts of the face underneath, "Screw the full price! I'm bringing you in stiff!"

The frog man tried to stand and she blasted him to the wall before turning her attention to Gabriel. Time seemed to slow as she aimed the gun to his head. She was scared, but more than that she was angry. Everyone else had saved her and these people - monsters - hurt her friends and the people at the hospital. Aracely raised her right hand said a single word.

"Stop."

The woman froze. Her one exposed eye widened and the hand holding onto the gun shook. She tried to fire, tried to move, but her body refused to obey here, "A-Aracely?" Gabriel looked up at her in shock. Aracely got to her feet and stepped closer, right hand still raised. The woman struggled harder but this time there wasn't even any shaking. She controlled everything in her now.

"Take off your mask." Aracely didn't recognize her own voice. The woman's hands raised slowly and followed her command. Both her eyes were wide and her mouth was open in a scream, but no sound came.

The next two words came before she could stop herself.

"Don't breath."

The woman's mouth shut and she stopped breathing. Her hands began shaking again, trying in vain to reach up to her mouth to pry them open. Her eyes struggled to look at Aracely's, just pleading for mercy. The young girl just stared back passively and counted the seconds. She was crying now, the tears running down her cheeks to the ground below. It wouldn't be long now before it was over.

Gabriel crawled towards her and grabbed her leg, "Aracely...stop..."

His touch felt like a bucket of ice cold water. The woman had passed out now and stood dead on her feet. Aracely looked up at her in shock and reached out a tentative hand. As soon as her fingers made contact the older woman fell on her back and lay still. She was still alive - her body remembering to breath now that she was unconscious - but what Aracely had done to her...

"What...What was that?" Gabriel asked shakily.

"I...I do not know..." she whispered, equally shaky.

Their equal shock was cut off by the frog man's groans. Gabriel ran towards him in a panic with Aracely following soon after, "Eugene, are you alright?" He grabbed one of his hands to pull him up and Aracely took the other. They both grunted with effort; the suit made him heavy.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good. Suit took the most of it." He looked past them to the unconscious woman, "What the heck happened to her."

"Who cares? Let's just get out of here." Gabriel gave her a look. The message was clear: don't say anything. Aracely nodded and followed after them, her previous fear replaced by something else entirely.

* * *

"A Nazi made of bees! Are you kidding me?!"

Mary Jane swung through the air and batted away the swarm that chased after her. Down on the streets below Peter dodged the balls and jets of fire from the fire guy - Cindy called him 'Pyro' - and shot between the volleys. The bullets just bounced off. Whatever was in that suit it made his bullets look like bb's.

She landed on the wall and dodged the next fireball aimed at her face, "Too close!" Peter jumped through a ring of fire and punched him in the face. The mask dented, but Pyro just laughed, "Is that the best you got?" Mary Jane shuddered. He sounded like a guy who smoked twenty packs a day and chewed sandpaper for fun. What little skin she could see was rough and leathery from burns.

More bees came for her. Mary Jane shot a line of webbing and the swarm suddenly parted so it passed harmlessly,  _ **'Rrgh, where do we cut? There's no body!'**  _Crimson screamed in rage. Mary Jane found herself agreeing. The swarm surrounded her now and morphed her hands into blades to try and cut through them. She got a few, but the stinging and buzzing made her lose focus and she fell to the ground.

Pyro aimed for her and she raised both hands to protect herself. Peter suddenly came up, tackled him against the wall and pinned him to the surface under a net of webbing, "Get up." He pulled her up with one hand and slashed through the air with a knife with the other. He actually managed to cut a few of them down, but for every one he sliced dozens more took their place.

And then he pulled a grenade from his belt. She almost screamed at him before he tossed it against the ground and smoke started billowing out. There was a sudden chuckling around them, "Did you think that would work?" Peter started looking around and replaced his knife with another, "These bees are under my control! Smoke will not make them panic!" A  _face_  appeared out of the swarm in front of them, "You will-"

Peter slashed the new knife through his head. She thought it'd just pass through harmlessly like the rest of her attacks, but instead the swarm reformed to a humanoid shape and it used both 'hands' to cover its face, "You...what did you do to me?!" When he lowered his 'hands' again there was a noticeable gap between where its eyes should have been, "That...That hurt! How?!"

"Hellfire. Stings, doesn't it?" He raised the knife again, "Come and get me."

Swarm (great name right there) snarled and charged towards them in a rage. Peter slashed through his right 'arm' and rolled to the right with Mary Jane following to avoid another stream of fire, "Why don't you use that hellfire thing to stab Mr. Crispy over there?" Another stream of fire. Mary Jane grabbed Peter and jumped, the fire just barely grazing the heels off her feet.

"Try not to use it on people too much. Besides, Cindy wants him alive. Thinks he'll be the chattiest." Another fireball. Mary Jane tossed him up and he tossed a flashbang at Pyro's feet. She caught him just in time for the explosion to blind the pyromaniac.

She landed clear on the other side of the street and set him down. Another explosion came from the hospital's fourth floor and Gwen was suddenly flung out. She stumbled through the air briefly before regaining her balance and landing in a crouch next to them, "Hey guys." She gave them a forced, cheery wave. Some parts of her costume were singed, but otherwise she seemed fine.

"You alright?" Mary Jane asked.

"Just fine. Better now that I'm not in that oven." She remained crouching and narrowed her eyes as Tombstone (another winner of a name) jumped from the fourth floor to the ground, cracking it on impact. Pyro strode up next to him the picture of confidence while Swarm returned to his humanoid forms sans his right 'arm' and a chunk of 'face', "Anyone know where Spinerette and Striker are?"

An explosion came from behind them. Peter looked up and Lana landed next to them shakily. Her face was bruised and the right side of her lip was busted open, "Hey...sorry, I need your help."

"Who did that to you?" Peter asked in a soft snarl.

"That'd be me." A fast guy in red and blue zipped past them and leaned against Pyro with a shit-eating grin on his face, "Kinda hit her a bit hard. Now my momma always told me never to hit girls, but I figures this was fair game." Something about that southern accent pissed Mary Jane off. Maybe it was cause of that damn grin or maybe it was cause Kasady had one too.

"...You're  _dead_." She could see Peter's glare even through his mask.

The lanky guy in gray suddenly appeared in the to the right of Tombstone, "The target...has escaped..."

"Aww, don't worry 'bout that! Hot stuff's takin' care of her."

"That's my daughter you're talking about." Tombstone said in that creepy as hell mad whisper, "What happened to the other Spider?"

"I...made a...tactical retreat..."

"Funny of saying you ran like a chicken." Cindy jumped from the third floor window and landed right next to Gwen. Apart from a few tears on her upper arms and her stomach she looked fine, "So...five on five?" Cindy looked at each of them in turn. They all nodded back at her before she faced the group of Supervillains in front of them, "Fine. Let's do this mano-e-mano."

"We are not...paid to fight..." Ghost guy rasped.

"Nah, but it's fun." Pyro chuckled.

"Enough with the chatter. Let's go." Peter raised both hands and they all matched him.

It was one of the longest couple of seconds in Mary Jane's life. One second they were standing across one another like opponents in an arena and the next they were charging like madmen. Mary Jane's body practically moved on its own and before she knew it she was in the air with a fist primed and aimed straight for Tombstone's face.

The impact shook her to her core. The reverb traveled from her fist down to the rest of her body and it was enough to make her teeth chatter. Tombstone stumbled  _very_  slightly and Mary Jane scrambled back to avoid his counterattack, "Hey, back off!" Gwen kicked him in the face with both feet and snagged him in a lasso of webbing. With a small grunt of effort she yanked him from the ground and threw him to a nearby parked car. The throw was enough to almost cleave through the car entirely.

From behind her, Lana fired off blasts towards Speed Demon (if she remembered his name correctly), "Ooh, missed me!" Another blast. He whizzed past Lana and and tripped her to the ground, "Come on, you gotta be faster than that!" She fired again. This time he appeared next to a (somehow intact) mailbox and leaned against it, yawning, "Man, this is borin'!"

Peter aimed and shot him from across the field. He didn't bother running that time and just dodged in place, even making goofy poses while he did it. Pyro reared and aimed behind him, "Spider-Man, look out!" His head moved by the barest amount - his spider-sense? - and he jumped to avoid the blast. Mary Jane grabbed a manhole cover and threw it full force straight to the guy's head.

He saw and raised his arms at the last second to (just barely) block the makeshift projectile. Pyro let out an inhuman sounding scream and glared at her. The metal on his arms were wrecked, exposing the worn and padded cloth underneath. She didn't have a spider-sense, but she could've sworn she heard everything inside her screaming just before a wall of fire came rushing towards her.

Lana aimed at the floor and propelled herself towards Mary Jane. The younger girl tackled her out of the way just in time to avoid the large jet of flame. They rolled along the ground in a heap and as soon as she was stable enough she aimed a glowing fist straight at Pyro.

Buzzing reached her ears. Mary Jane's eyes widened and she pulled Lana close, "Hold on!" She expanded Crimson around her till there was a globe of red, pulsating flesh surrounding them. She couldn't see, but she could feel the dozens -  _hundreds_  - of bees stabbing into the barrier. Even a few seconds late and it would've reached them. She would've been fine, but she didn't like Lana's chances.

More rapid, stronger impacts suddenly circled them. Speed Demon was breaking the barrier down. She didn't even get a chance to brace herself before the fleshy shield dissipated from the force of the blows and Lana was kicked right in the jaw, "Lana!" She reached out a hand towards her before a sudden hand grabbed her hair and tugged harshly.

"Why don't we leave her alone, huh, sweetheart?" he drawled cockily, "What say you and me have some alone time, huh? Always did like me a redhead." His grip on her hair tightened and Mary Jane grinned.

"Heh... ** _sure_**."

A blood red spike suddenly impaled itself through the palm that had grabbed her hair. Speed Demon looked down at his bloodstained hand, mouth open in disbelief, before he  _screamed_. Without giving him a chance to run, Mary Jane morphed her right arm into a blade and spun, making sure to aim down.

When Lana looked up the last thing she expected was to see Speed Demon crawling on the ground missing both of his runners chopped off. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost, "Hah..." She focused her attention to Swarm and raised a fist towards him. She aimed at where the cluster was the thickest and fired.

Dozens of bugs exploded into gooey little piles. The racist bastard tried reform himself and Lana kept firing, shooting faster and larger explosions wherever he tried to regenerate, "Shoulda swapped bad guys, Scarlet..." Lana stood and kept up the assault.

Cindy unholstered both guns and paid attention to every little footstep, every rasping breath, "Where are you..." Breathing behind her. She turned and fired. The bullets whizzed through the air and hit nothing but dead air, "Damn it..." She replaced the empty magazines and moved till she stood back to back with Noir, "Hey, wanna swap baddies like they did?"

"You take firestarter and I take the ghost?"

"You know it."

They nodded at one another and Cindy charged towards Pyro. Truth be told she wanted it this day. They'd arrived just a bit too late and she saw the effects of his handiwork in the lobby. Doctors, nurses, patients and even people just visiting loved ones; all burnt to a crisp without being able to fight back. She and Gwen did her best to evacuate everyone that was left, but even one person lost was too much.

Time for payback.

She put the guns away, "Aww, trying to play the hero?" Pyro laughed cockily and shot flames from his hands in a wide jet. She didn't know if he was one of the people who got lucky from Terrigen Mist or another kind of freak entirely, and she didn't care. It wouldn't have changed anything, "Come on then, itsy bitsy spider, and I'll show you that it's not just the water you gotta-"

She kicked him right in the crotch. The unexpectedness of the attack cut off his taunt and she could've sworn she heard the guy  _squeak_ , "What's wrong? Nothing else to say?" She ducked under the clumsy flaming swipes and countered with her own kicks. Four hits, each of them on his face. His mask dented more and more with every blow, "You were saying something about spiders, Pyro?"

"You-"

"Actually, don't really care." She kicked him in the chest hard and knocked him against the wall. She felt his ribs crack even from underneath his multi-layer vest and he coughed out blood through the slits of his mask. A lot of people thought that because she used gun and wasn't as much a brawler as Gwen or that she didn't have super strength like her. Looked like Pyro was one of them.

He screamed and shot a large barrage of fire at her. Cindy webbed herself up to the wall above him and stood horizontal from the surface. Pyro looked up just in time her to unholster her guns and shoot a bullet through each of his hands.

The fire stopped immediately. Pyro knelt on the ground and stared at the bloody appendages as Cindy landed in front of him. Without a single word exchanged she kicked the left side of his head and knocked him to the ground. He was out cold.

"You are...the Spider-Man..." Peter held his gun in a tight grip. The guy's voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard, "Bounty on your head...significant..."

"Come and get it, then." His spider-sense blared and he flipped to the side to avoid the barrage of laser blasts at his feet. He heard about the guy. Ghost, real name unknown. Usually a corporate saboteur, but he wasn't above taking any kind of job for payment. He got his name from that suit he had. Invisibility, intangibility, that damn reverb in his voice; it was like he really was a ghost.

Except he couldn't stay gone forever.

He'd seen it before when the bastard fought Cindy through the window: for a precious few seconds he stopped being immaterial to the world and was back to the world of the living. Of course he was still invisible so Cindy couldn't take advantage of it.

Peter didn't have that problem.

As soon as he heard the first solid footstep Peter took aim at where his midsection would be and fired. The creepy bastard hissed and Peter kept firing. He was running now, trying to dodge and weave and make Peter lose track, but Peter smelled his blood in the air. He was desperate, "You are...like me..." Peter internally rolled his eyes. Sure. He was only the dozenth half-bit clown to say that, but sure, he was the one who was right.

Peter disappeared. The creepy bastard hissed in frustration and Peter fired at the source again. This time the blood was spilling out of his suit to the asphalt below, "You're gonna bleed out." The smell was so pungent he could practically see him. Ghost fired in his general direction and Peter aimed a shot for his leg this time. There was a pained hiss and he appeared lying on the floor just before Peter punched him in the face hard enough to knock him out.

Separate from the others, Gwen once again found herself being used as a battering ram as Tombstone used her to smash through the bricked building and into a lobby. The brush with fire earlier left Webster still shivering around her, "You ain't as strong as I thought you'd be." Tombstone whispered. He raised her over his head and threw her to a to the corner.

Gwen shot two lines of webbing past him and pulled, propelling herself towards him. She kicked him in the face and flipped back into a crouch, "Ow! Seriously, what is your skin made of?" She dodged his overhead smash and yanked his head down to her level, "Eugh, talk about a face only a mother could love!" She kicked him straight in the jaw and followed it up with an uppercut strong enough to push him up to the air.

Gwen jumped and continued her attacks until he landed on his back. She flipped back to recover and he suddenly grabbed her left leg, "Damn bug!" He tossed her clean through the front desk. Gwen felt the wind get knocked out of her and she coughed.

**'Gwen, are you alright?'**

_'Yeah, just fine.'_ She coughed again and froze at the scared pair of eyes that greeted her. A little boy, maybe 7 or 8, holding onto a stuffed bear for dear life, "What...? What are you...?" She must've lived in one of the apartments above them.

The child was frozen in fear. How long had he been here, so scared that he couldn't even move because the fighting outside wasn't better? Gwen reached out a hand towards him and he was suddenly yanked away by his collar, "What's this, huh? We got ourselves an audience?" Tombstone grinned down at the shivering little boy and laughed lowly. Then his smile disappeared, "Never liked kids. Or witnesses. Sadly for you, you're both."

Tombstone was going to hurt him- no, worse. The mouth of Gwen's mask split apart to reveal rows of razor sharp teeth, " **Let go of him!** " The albino criminal's face slackened in shock at her sudden, monstrous look and Gwen tackled him. The boy fell from his grasp and Gwen didn't stop till they were clear outside. She threw him towards one of the wrecked cars without holding back and he crashed through it.

She didn't give him a chance to recover. Gwen landed on top of him and struck. Once, twice, three times...by the half dozenth mark he'd lost most of his teeth. He raised his hand and she grabbed, twisted and threw him back to the other side through another car.

"I...I give..." She kicked his outstretched hand. Her foot hurt from the force of the blow, but it was nothing compared to the sickening crack he got. Tombstone pleaded again and Gwen almost stomped on his face before Cindy's voice reached her ears.

"Gwen! That's enough!"

Foot still raised, she looked back and found the rest of the group staring at her. There was no judgement in their eyes. Gwen looked back down at the mumbling Tombstone and stomped her foot inches from his head. The concrete cracked from the impact, "I better not see you out of prison." She stepped off him and her grotesque mouth disappeared too, replaced by the smooth surface of her mask.

Without waiting for the others to say anything, she rushed back to the apartment lobby and found the kid sprawled on the ground, "Are you alright?" She knelt down and gently picked him up. He looked scared, but thankfully unharmed, "Does anywhere hurt? Please tell me."

"N-No, I'm fine..." He smiled up at her even though he looked like he was seconds from tears, " Th-Thank you for saving me..."

"No...you shouldn't have gotten involved at all." She didn't blame herself. These bastards attacked the hospital, not them. The place was burning by the time they got there, "The police will be here soon, okay? Just listen to what they say."

"Y-Yeah!" He nodded, oddly energetic despite the recent scare.

"Good." Gwen ruffled his head affectionately and walked out to meet the others. Tombstone, Pyro and Ghost were already webbed up by Cindy while Speed Demon was wailing in the corner about his lost extremities that Peter had covered in webbing. Despite what she nearly did to Tombstone she felt pity for him...and scared at the idea that MJ was the one who did it, "Is...Is he gonna be alright? I mean, is he gonna..."

"Die? Not sure. He heals pretty fast, and Peter did some mystical bs thing to make sure he doesn't bleed. Ain't getting those legs back, though." Cindy sighed, "Swarm got away."

"Should've blasted him more..." Lana mumbled. She definitely took the worst of them with her bruises and dried blood.

"He'll turn up again. We'll get him next time." Peter muttered. Gwen heard sirens in the distance along with what sounded like more Initiative Heroes, "Cavalry's late, as usual." He sighed, "Come on, we should get outta here."

They all nodded in tired agreement and followed Cindy out.

* * *

He was in Spinerette's apartment. Holy shit.

Eugene looked around the interior of the decently sized condo. It was smaller than he expected for someone being bankrolled by the Wasp and Tony Stark, but it definitely beat his place. He guessed it made sense. They already had the Avengers Mansion (generously donated by Tony Stark), but they didn't need that for a day to day. It was more a secret base thing...well, a secret base that did the occasional tour.

That was Tony Stark's idea too. People paid big bucks to see where the Avengers slept.

The rest of the team were sprawled in varying states of tired all across the living room. Striker took up the biggest chair and was sprawled across it lazily with one hand pressing an ice bag against her bruises/ On a slightly smaller chair was the red Spider-Woman - Scarlet Spider, she called herself - who matched Lana's posture. Her long red hair spilled to the floor and she propped her feet up on the table. Her mask was still on.

And then there was Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. Spider-Woman took up the entire right side of the couch and she while Spider-Man was lying down on his back with his head on her lap. Spider-Woman absently ran her hand through his hair and judging by his soft breathing Eugene guessed that he was sleeping. Either that or he was faking it really well.

Damn it he was so jealous. There Spider-Man was on Spider-Woman's lap while he and Gabriel were banished to the kitchen table. The younger teen was already poring through his laptop and typing up something Eugene couldn't see. Spinerette was in one of the other rooms trying to put Aracely to sleep. He still didn't know how Beetle got knocked out, but he wasn't gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.

Spinerette eventually came out after a few minutes, "Finally put her to sleep. Had to feed her some relaxatives, though." She brought a hand through her soot soaked hair and glared half-heartedly at the assorted heroes, "You guys really need to clean yourselves up, sooner the better. G- Uh, Spider-Woman and Pete, you two go first. Scarlet and Lana can go after." Her eyes flicked to him and Gabriel and Eugene frowned. Why didn't he trust her with their secret identities? Didn't he prove himself?

"...You want us to go in together?" Spider-Man muttered.

"What, like you don't already?" Striker's mouth twitched while Scarlet Spider raised her head slightly. What was  _that_? "No need to be shy. Come on, you two are tracking muck everywhere. I'll web up some replacement clothes for you both."

"Fine." Spider-Woman said, too exhausted to argue. She and Spider-Man made their way to the bathroom and locked it with a soft click. Eugene felt another bubble of jealousy. There was Spider-Woman  _naked and showering_  behind that door and only one person could see. And join in.

Spinerette suddenly looked towards them, "Right...I don't wanna be rude, but we're gonna be talking about some personal team stuff so...could you two go out for now? I mean, you don't need any medical attention, right?" She looked to Eugene. He didn't; the suit took most of the damage and the bruises would heal on their own.

"But-"

"Yeah, that's cool." Gabriel put his laptop in his bag and stood. Eugene still had no idea how he hacked those cars, "We'll talk to Ms. Winters about what happened. She might be able to help out."

"Good idea." Spinerette gave him a thumbs up and a wink, "Call me if you two get anything."

Before he could argue any further, Gabriel grabbed Eugene and practically dragged him to the elevator. The frog-based hero couldn't say anything and just watched listlessly as the elevator doors closed. He knew Spinerette's address now, but it wouldn't do him any good. To even open the door you needed some kind of passcode and she wasn't even listed as the owner - anyone trying to search would just get a bunch of shell corporations. Apparently it was because of something S.H.I.E.L.D did.

It was only when they were outside that Eugene realized how exhausted he was. He couldn't believe it'd only been a few hours. His costume - which he still hadn't taken off - felt unbearably hot and he'd refused Spinerette's offer for new clothes. He didn't want to carry it on top of everything else.

"Man, Spider-Man's so lucky..." Eugene said after a few minutes.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Gabriel asked.

"I mean he gets to stay up there with all of them!" Eugene took off his mask so he could breath easier, "He already has Spider-Woman and now he's in a team with Striker, Spinerette and the Scarlet Spider! Aren't you jealous?"

"Ah...kinda. I like Lana, but she still likes Spider-Man." Gabriel smiled sadly and kicked a small pebble, "I'm cool with it, though. Lana's my friend. If she can be more than that then that'd be amazing, but if not I'm still happy we're at least friends."

"Yeah, maybe..." Eugene frowned. He knew he could impress Spider-Woman if he just had the chance, "Hey...hypothetical question, but what do you think are the chances of Spider-Woman and Spider-Man breaking up?"

"Uh...I dunno, I don't really read up on the gossip."

"N-No reason, just...you know, curious."

"Dude, don't." Gabriel adjusted the laptop bag's strap's place on his shoulder, "I know you like her - you and like a million fanboys - but you kinda sound like a creep asking questions like that."

"H-Hey..."

"I'm just saying. If they break up or not, it's not any of your or anyone else's business. They have lives too." He shrugged and smiled slightly, "But hey, you were pretty cool back there when we were saving Aracely from Beetle."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. I...I couldn't have gotten her attention like that." He licked his lips nervously.

"Y-You were pretty cool too! How'd you hack those cars?"

"Oh, it's a program I got from my old friend Amadeus. I'm not a master hacker or anything, but I picked up some stuff." He stopped at the apartment building, "Come on, let's go meet Ms. Winters."

They made their way up and Gabriel knocked on the door, "Coming!" There was a rush of footsteps and a (surprisingly) pretty blonde opened the door with a grin. She was somewhat unkempt - her hair tied in a clumsy bun and wearing a coffee-stained pink shirt and a pair of black sweatpants - but she was still a looker. The scar on her cheek only added to it. If he wasn't a one (Spider-)Woman he definitely would've been more in shock. He didn't think they made journalists like her outside of comics.

"Ms. Winters?" Gabriel asked nervously.

"Yeah, Spinny said you were coming. And please, it's Norah. No one calls me Ms. Winters."

Gabriel shook her hand eagerly, "I-I read up on a lot of your articles! Especially the ones about the Charon and Noir group." Norah blinked and smiled sheepishly, obviously not used to Gabriel's fanboying, "I-It's an honor to work with you Ms- ah, Norah!"

"Ha, and they say newspaper's a dying breed!" She looked at them both and jerked her thumb inside, "Well come on, let's get to work."

* * *

Back at her apartment, Cindy heaved a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the bathroom in a fresh pair of tanktop and shorts. The brunette toweled off her wet hair and smiled slightly when she saw Lana, Peter, MJ and Gwen sitting around the table and eating Dominos (apparently  _that_  was a universal constant) Pizza. McDonalds turned into McDaniels but Dominos and Chuck-e-Cheeses still existed. What a world.

Good thing she checked for bugs last night. Daisy was (kinda) her friend, but she still left bugs everywhere to spy on her. All part of the job, she said. Cindy gave up arguing and just wrecked them (spin-sense helped). Eventually she'd get tired of losing thousand dollar bugs that never gave her anything.

"Planning the party without me?" Cindy grabbed a slice of pizza and opened the fridge to take out two six-packs of beer, "Alright everyone, drink up!" She tossed one to all of them- yes, even Lana. She'd seen and done enough that spider-cop could let up on the drinking age thing.

"Cheers!" Gwen said. They all drank with varying degrees of excitement. She'd been the one to suggest this, just staying to unwind. They were all exhausted, even Mr. Zombie over there. When was the last time any of them had even slept for at least 8 hours? Or without having to worry about being shot at the next day? They needed this. Thank God for convenience store beer and 24 hour pizza places.

"Fuck, this tastes like heaven after eating that prissy private school food." Lana finished off her can and took another can, "Tastes better than Pete's piss whiskey, that's for sure."

"You just don't have good taste." Peter sipped at the beer almost daintily, "You don't have anything stronger, Cin?"

"I'm not a whiskey and vodka kind of guy, Pete." She sat across from him and picked up another slice of pizza, "'Sides, I don't want to get too hammered. I  _do_  have work tomorrow and Lana has classes, I'm pretty sure."

"Heh, gonna be  _real_  fucking fun explaining these." Lana gestured to the bandages and gauze pads that covered the wounds on her face. She looked to MJ, "Speaking of, I knew me and Gayle made you a costume, but I didn't think you'd start running around so soon."

"Yeah, well, when you see a hospital blow you tend to take notice." They all got quiet at that. They'd done their best to minimize the damages and evacuate as many people as they could, but of course there were still casualties. Most of them already knew and accepted that they couldn't save everyone, but it didn't mean they had to  _like_  it, "I didn't really do much, though."

"'Cept take Speed Douche down a notch, you mean." Gwen winced slightly. Among the entire group she was still the least used to brutality. Least he was still alive, that helped her guilty conscience, "Eh, you'll get there soon. I didn't start off well either. Remind me to tell you about the time I nearly got Pete and me blown up by a booby trap." Peter grunted and rubbed his back.

"Well...I think it's a good look for you, Scarlet Spider." Gwen smiled at Mary Jane and the redhead blushed slightly. Yep, there was definitely something there. Something Cindy wasn't gonna touch with a Hydra Nuke size pole cause she had enough problems of her own, "Uh, I hate to bring it up, but what about that Aracely kid? She was the one they were after."

"Yeah..." Lana sipped her beer morosely, "Gabe actually told me. When they got cornered by that bitch Beetle Aracely just...he said she mind controlled him? Aracely said she should stop breathing and she stopped breathing. Like...fuck, that's creepy."

"Telepath. I've run into a few of them before," Peter muttered, "Least Aracely was alone. You make them siblings and the crazy just gets amplified. Those damn Cuckoos nearly made me blow my brains out."

"You know, the more you tell me about your 'adventures' the more I start thinking I should've kept you locked up for the year," Gwen said flatly.

"It's actually not just telepathy." Cindy put a finger to her lips, stood and walked quietly to the guest bedroom door. She opened the door just enough so they could see what she'd been privy to before: Aracely sleeping and floating at least five feet off the bed. Her closed eyes and calm breaths made it clear she hadn't noticed anything was wrong. Cindy shut the door and returned to her chair, "Yeah...I'm kinda seeing why those guys wanted her."

"Fuck, what have I gotten myself into..." Lana groaned.

"You mean 'we'." Cindy looked at each of them in turn, "I know we're all 'fiercely independent' and don't like asking for help, but one thing's clear: we'd have gotten our butts handed to us without the others there...except maybe Gwen, but you don't count. That suit of yours is busted."

"Webster said she'd take that as a compliment." Gwen raised her can.

"Point is, we work together. We all have each other's numbers - except MJ, which we'll fix - and if the going gets tough then we call, damn pride and that little voice in your head, you all know the ones, telling you that you don't need any help."

"The power of friendship. How very Disney of you." Despite the snark, Mary Jane's smile was genuine, "Well...sure."

"I'm in." Lana shrugged.

"Me too." Gwen smiled.

"Sure, but I'll still keep some things to myself. Something tells me none of you wanna start making a habit of fighting demons or performing exorcisms." He was right there. The less mystical BS, the better.

She was about to shoot something back when the doorbell suddenly rang. Everyone tensed immediately, "Expecting visitors, Cin?"

"Nope." She unholstered her gun (generally dissuaded people more than a fist) and stalked to the door. The others remained at the table, postures ready. Cindy swallowed her nerves and looked through the peephole.

Only to immediately curse herself for being so damn forgetful.

"Ryan." She opened the door just a crack and forced a smile on her face, "Hey...this really isn't a good time right now." She rushed through her list of excuses - her cat got sick, she got home late from work and she was secretly a superhero in disguise who just needed to chill right now. Okay maybe not that last one, but she still did her best to make it clear that this was not happening.

It took a couple of minutes but eventually she got him to leave. Cindy closed the door and pressed her forehead against the (reinforced) wood briefly with a sigh. Without another word she trudged back to the table and got another can of beer.

"Uh...what the heck was that?" Mary Jane asked.

"My poor time management skills." Cindy sighed again, "I was supposed to meet that guy over for an...well, something. After what happened at the hospital I completely forgot all about it."

"Where'd you meet this guy?" Lana asked.

"This...This dating app called Flint."

"And by 'dating' you mean 'one night stands'," Gwen said.

"Oh, are you really gonna start throwing shade Ms. 'Oh Peter, you should put your web in my mouth'?"

"I-I did  _not_  say that!" The blush on both Gwen and Peter's faces said otherwise. Funny, Cindy was just guessing. Lana rolled her eyes in annoyance while Mary Jane covered her face with both hands and groaned, "And I wasn't judging! You can do whatever the heck you want with your free time. It's just...you always complained about not getting a date before so I thought you'd go on actual dating apps."

"Never have time. Least this way I get something out of it and no one leaves pissed...except Ryan, cause I totally just blew him off." She clicked her tongue, "And hey, what about everyone else's embarassing little secrets, huh? We've all had a busy year, so I think this is the perfect time for a little confessing." Cindy grinned, "Time to air out all the dirty secrets."

"Ugh, you've unleashed a monster, Gwencent." MJ groaned again.

"Don't you feel lucky, Pete?" Lana grinned jokingly at him.

"For what?"

"You are officially the one guy in an all-girl sleepover. I knew a dozen guys who'd kill for this. Know frog boy definitely would."

"Yes, how lucky of me." He sighed and finished off his first can, "Fine, I'll play; I know I can't really say no here."

"I'm game too. But Cindy goes first, cause I don't count that Ryan dude. You didn't tell us that willingly."

"Fine, fine..." Cindy tapped her chin briefly and then smiled, "Hey...I ever tell you guys I slept with Thor?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Villains averted, Heroes triumphant and Frog-Man continues to be useless. Okay, he had a tiny moment for a second there, so maybe he's finally getting somewhere now that he's helping Norah. Maybe. Big if.
> 
> As said above, the first and last segments were the most enjoyable for me. The first because it shows the villains from the POV of a non-combatant and it shows just how terrifying they can be when you don't have badass skills and/or powers. The last segment because I rarely ever get to write the five protags together all at once and it hopefully shows the far lighter and less dysfunctional tone of V2 where everyone mostly gets along.
> 
> Next chapter will be decided by the question below:
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Pick which 2-3 of the 5 protags you guys wanna follow first. The remaining will follow after:
> 
> \- Noir working with Daimon Hellstorm (V) and Ghost Rider (basically Dante) to interrupt Bakuto making a deal with Lilith. Hopefully won't be dead weight.  
> \- Gwen visiting Wasp with Venom to get more information on their new baby. Also investigating costumed baddies gaining stronger tech.  
> \- Cindy going back to work to investigate a new swathe of Gifted kidnappings. And possibly more Laura and Shadowcat.  
> \- Lana balancing school life and hero work along with trying to find out more about Aracely's origin and powers.   
> \- Mary Jane's attempts of reconciling her desire to be a hero with Carnage's bloodlust along with her getting involved in the Hobgoblin's schemes.
> 
> 2\. I've heard it before, but would you guys really want a clone saga here? I've seen particular interest in the possible appearance of a male Gwen clone cause everyone loves Ultimate Jessica Drew.


	12. Spider-Man's Harem (Not Really)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a breather chapter. I wanted to give people a chance to pitch in their votes for the next story segments and I wanted to write the characters interacting in a much more lighthearted setting since apparently you guys really like that. I was actually gonna skip this part but a few reviewers really wanted the confession scene written. I added a Matt segment to bolster the word count and here we are.
> 
> Anyway, current vote number:
> 
> Noir - 13
> 
> Gwen - 11
> 
> Mary Jane - 5
> 
> Lana - 11
> 
> Cindy - 9
> 
> Man, poor MJ got left in the freaking dust :( I thought people liked her Scarlet Spider segments? It was the main reason she became a protagonist on her own right rather than being a side-character for Gwen. Still, currently Noir is leading followed by either Gwen or Lana. If you haven't voted yet for which order you want to see then please do so :)
> 
> Side Note - I also read the preview for Ghost Spider 8 and...wow, MJ's a bitch in it. In the previous volume she was one of the most supportive of Gwen after finding out her identity and we see that finding out about Gwen's double life changed her for the better. Now she's suddenly turned around and accusing Gwen of being an attention whore who can't stand not being front and center and griping jealously that if she had powers things would be different.
> 
> Are they trying to turn her into Earth-65 Venom ala Eddie Brock? Cause this sudden about face from her previous character development and behavior is a major turn off.

"Alright, Mary Jane, your turn."

Gwen took a long gulp of her beer and grinned at the redhead. Cindy had just finished regaling them about her one night of passion with Thor. Apparently it was pretty easy: just make sure you could hold your drink, laugh at his jokes and tell him how big and hard his hammer was. Gwen still wasn't sure whether Cindy meant that last part literally or not.

"Well...I dunno." Mary Jane licked her lips, "I'm not like you guys, you know? I'm pretty new to the whole Superhero thing." Except for when she wasn't. Gwen still hadn't talked to her about it, but the new costume and MJ clarifying that she was in the  _Superhero_ business was a good sign. Maybe one day they could talk about the things they got up to when the other wasn't looking.

"Come on, there has to be something." Lana leaned back and rolled her eyes. They'd transferred from the kitchen table back to the living room so the teenager was sprawled across a beanbag. Mary Jane sat on the chair next to her while she, Cindy and Peter were on the couch, "Doesn't even have to be from this year. Secrets don't stop being embarrassing cause of the timestamp."

"Uh...I don't have any embarassing secrets?"

"Uh...you're not a very good liar, MJ?" Gwen snarked, "Seriously, we're all friends here. What happens in Cindy's apartment stays in Cindy's apartment." Same way her and Peter doing it by the shore never got out of the lakehouse.

"Fine, fine! Ugh, you're the worst, Gwencent." Gwen threw her a smug, self-satisfied smile, "Okay, um...okay, uh, there was a time I stalked a guy. Does that count?"

"Stalking? Absolutely." Cindy leaned forward with a smile, "I mean, not unless it was a criminal you were tailing back to his lair. Cause if it is we should just move on now."

"No, no. It was...It was back when I was 16." Gwen listened raptly while Peter just looked confused, as if the idea of stalking someone for anything other than investigation was alien to him. Such a poor, innocent boy he was, "There was this guy, a senior. I think you remember him, Gwen? Name of Ryan, wore the leather jacket and played a lot of pool?"

"Oh, yeah! Dirty Ryan!" So aptly named cause...actually, she didn't know why. She kinda just assumed it was cause he didn't bathe, but the amount of girls he he made out with kinda disproved that. Either that or everyone just had really low standards, "Wait, seriously? Dirty Ryan? I thought you had better taste than that, MJ." She shook her head and made sure to add just the right amount of annoying judgement in her tone.

"Oh, screw you! I was young and he said he loved me!" She crossed her arms and huffed, "He cornered me after practice. Gotta give the guy credit, he knew his stuff. Talked about my favorite bands, complimented my music; if he put that much effort into studying he probably would've beaten Sajani to Valedictorian." And Pete if he hadn't- no, bad thoughts! "So anyway we got to chatting and...well, I was hooked."

"So you fell for the bad boy with the jacket. Everyone has that." Lana snorted, "Get to the juicy part, Watson. When did you make the stalker shrine?"

"I didn't...make a stalker shrine!" MJ shouted back, her face red, "I just...after we started kinda-dating it was pretty good. We made out, had dates, talked about music...it was good. I even got a ride on his motorcycle." Gwen snorted. What was with everyone and motorcycles? Web-swinging was all the rage these days, "But after that...he started ghosting me. No contact on headbook, never picked up my calls, ignored me on the hallway. It was like we were strangers."

"I'm gonna take a guess that he was cheating on you?" Peter asked bluntly. Gwen elbowed his side lightly, "What? It makes the most sense."

"That's what I thought too, so I started I started to...follow him. I don't mean I started taking locks of his hair or anything. I mean I looked through his headbook friends list, asked his buddies what he got up to...and maybe I followed him outside of school and he didn't know I was there." Gwen raised a brow, "Hey, I know I should've just went up to the guy and demanded to know what the eff was going on, but I was young and dumb-"

"And full of cum. Yes, we've established this," Lana interrupted, "So what happened? Was he cheating on you or did you find out he was gay?"

"The second one, actually." Well... _that_  didn't go the way she thought it would, "Yeah, so I followed him and caught him making out with one of his guy friends. I...may or may not have blown up at the guy asking what the fuck was going on. Then he told me he didn't want to admit he was gay cause of his family and that he tried going out with girls to see if he could just stop liking dudes and...really, it was just one giant mess. I felt like such a bitch afterwards even though he totally started it."

"So you ended up being the fake love interest in a coming out story." Cindy laughed under her breath, "That's not really embarrassing, though. I mean, you  _did_  think the guy was cheating on you. Come on, give us more!"

"Well...I also told my mom before I found out that he was the one and that I was so sure we'd be together forever." Lana's mouth parted open slightly, "And I may or may not have realized days afterwards that I forgot to change my relationship status after he came out to his parents and friends. That got me a lot of confused phone calls..."

"...I am so sorry." Gwen looked away in shame.

"Screw you, Gwen! I wasn't the one who didn't realize two of her best friends were in love with her!" Gwen stuttered while Peter turned red next to her, "I mean seriously, how did you miss that? Osborn was practically making air traffic signals!'

"H-Hey, we're talking about  _your_  embarrassing secrets! We'll get to me later!" She grabbed Peter's hand and squeezed it to try and calm herself. Webster was 'sleeping' right now; checking in on their baby after the hospital fight earlier.

"Guess it's my turn, right?" Lana started, "For me...mmh, it's kinda hard. I'm generally pretty awesome." Peter snorted and Lana glared at him halfheartedly, "Oh right, there was a time I told someone I loved them and I got the 'but you're like a sister' to me response. Would that work?"

"I'm pretty sure we all know who you're talking about." Cindy rolled her eyes. Gwen squeezed Peter's hand a bit tighter. She  _wasn't_  jealous, she was just...reasonably worried that a 17 year old girl who got the good end of puberty - seriously, that chest was  _ridiculous_  - was still holding a torch for her boyfriend. Very reasonable. Yes, "Come on, you don't have anything? Like Gwen said there's no point in being shy here."

"Thing is I don't really have any  _secrets_. Thanks to William I can't keep anything hidden if I wanted to." She scoffed, "Sure, I have some things he won't show, but those aren't really 'embarrassing'. More like he won't tell people how much of a shitty dad he was or that he didn't say shit when me and the rest of the 'Defenders' were being hunted down by the cops."

"So you really don't have anything?" Gwen asked.

"Not unless you count my stash of-" She suddenly stopped pressed her lips into a thin line. Everyone just stared at her, "My stash of porn, which every teenage girl has and is totally a sign of healthy growth."

"What  _kind_  of porn?" Cindy's eyes narrowed. Must've been that detective sense she was honing.

"Just...you know, the normal kind. The kind every teenage girl has when she wants to sleep better at night." Her eyes flickered to Peter, "And should we really be talking about this? I mean Pete's right there and he  _is_  a guy."

"Right, this after you kept asking me for dirty details? Nuh-uh," Mary Jane said, "Come on, spill. There's a reason you're keeping it hidden!"

"It's nothing! It's just...you know, manga and doujins and stuff. Weird Japanese shit Gayle gave me."

"Wait,  _Gayle_  gave you? That means..." Mary Jane's mouth curled in a sudden predatory grin and she looked to Peter. Gwen did  _not_ like that look, "Oh...I think I know what it was."

"How do you- whatever, don't say anything! I'll-I'll think of something else! Just gimme a minute!" She grabbed her hair with both hands and shut her eyes, trying to rack her brain. Cindy yawned exaggeratedly and tapped her imaginary wristwatch, "Alright, alright, alright. Um...there was the time I- no, I ended up killing that guy." Gwen was more than a little disturbed on how quickly Lana brushed that off, "Okay, how about-"

"She's reading gay Spider-Man porn." MJ interrupted casually. Lana gave the redhead a look of utter  _hate_  while Peter just sighed in obvious disappointment at his  _sister_ , "You surprised? Ever since Gwencent let it slip Tiger was 18 people didn't miss how how all of his teammates were older than him. Way too easy." Everyone gave her a look and she just shrugged, "Hey, my sister makes fanfics. I pick up some stuff."

"...I'm not angry, Lana. I'm just disappointed." He said flatly. Lana flinched like she'd been hit, "...Can you at least tell me it wasn't Castle?"

"...I'm sorry." Lana looked down in utter shame. Gwen just felt ticked off. What was with people thinking there was something between Peter and that asshole? He was old enough to be his dad! His daughter was just a few years younger than Peter, for fuck's sake! "If it helps, I'm mostly reading them cause they're the best written. The Moon Knight stuff is just trash."

"Could we please stop talking about gay porn involving my boyfriend? Thanks." Gwen sighed.

"I dunno about you guys, but I'm having fun." Cindy smiled smarmily.

"Screw you, Cin! You sleeping with Thor was much better than this!" Lana shouted, her entire face red from both embarassment and anger, "Rrgh, whatever! Your turn, Spider-Gwen! Just tell us so we can complete the circlejerk!"

"Nice choice of words there." Gwen let go of Peter's hand and leaned forward, making a show of deep thought. Both Lana and Mary Jane tapped their feet impatiently, "Well, there was this one kid who was maybe 15. He gave me a rose and asked to me to marry him-"

"Fuck off with that shit. That was embarrassing for him, not you." Lana scoffed, "Come on, you have to be  _at least_  as embarrassed as me and Jane."

"Yeah, I gotta agree with exploder gal," Mary Jane added, "We aired out our dirty secrets, so you gotta do the same!"

"Alright, fine! But remember: none of it leaves this room!" She looked at each of them in turn and took a deep breath, "Now, most of you know that Webster has a preference for treats of the chocolate variety." Translation: she was a total pig, "So a couple of months ago I was chasing this dude calling himself Looter through a chocolate factory. Total coincidence, he just thought that the guy who owned it had Willy Wonka money."

"Oh,  _Willy Wonka's_  a dimensional constant but Harry Potter isn't? Wow." Cindy snorted.

" _Any_ way, we had a chase, as villains and heroes are wont to do, and during the middle of it I managed to knock Looter out and he managed to kick me into a vat of chocolate. Easy peasy, right? I just web myself up and pretend that didn't happen."

"...I'm getting a bad feeling about this story," Peter muttered next to her.

"Well, it turns out that said vat contained some new flavor that Webster really liked...and by really liked, I mean she fucking jumped out of me and started licking that stuff up like she was dying. So there I was, fucking  _naked_  with only a hairband, swimming in a vat of chocolate and screaming for Webster to come back for  _5 minutes_  - and since the whole factory was evacuated and Looter was knocked out it was just me and her. I got chocolate in parts of me I didn't even know I had..."

"...Please tell me the owner got rid of that batch." Lana looked very much disgusted.

"You kidding me? Pretty sure Gwencent has fans who'd eat that up. Literally. Owner could make a killing selling chocolate 'Spider-Woman took a bath in'."

"Ugh, MJ, gross!" Gwen screamed.

"What? I'm just telling it like it is. You know how popular you are." MJ waved her right hand dismissively, "Seriously, I've seen people post vids of them kissing your posters. Not sure why they posted that, but it's up there."

"I'm more curious on why you were naked. Do you just not wear underwear anymore?" Cindy asked.

"I did, but Webster changes into- you know what, not the point! Point is I got an unwanted facial and I cut Webster off from chocolate for two weeks afterwards till she could control herself. Thank God Looter was still knocked out when I went to pick him up. Pretty sure I was dripping chocolate all the way back to the apartment..." She look a  _long_ shower after that and Webster  _still_ whined she was 'wasting' it.

...In hindsight, that should've made it obvious that something was up with her - Webster wouldn't have left her so open in public like that normally. Granted, how was  _she_  supposed to know her symbiote got pregnant?

"Well, I think we just found your weakness. We shall ensure it never falls into the wrong hands." Mary Jane stretched her arms above her head and grabbed another can of beer, "Alright, now it's just Tiger. Come on then, regale us with your embarrassing tales."

"Don't suppose I could just tell you about the time I got out of a Hand prison?" Gwen rolled her eyes. Why did he  _always_ bring that up? Did he think it'd actually help knowing he was in some fucked up S&M dungeon? "Right...um, I'm not good at this kind of thing. It just has to be embarrassing, right? Hmm...well, there was a time I had to kiss Wade Wilson so we wouldn't die."

Gwen spat out of her beer, which got a roar of laughter from MJ, while Lana suddenly looked  _very_  interested. Cindy raised a brow and crossed her arms as Gwen frantically wiped her mouth, "Hmm, I'll allow it. Continue."

"It was...half a year ago, I think? I was working with Wilson's group - the 'Mercs for Money' - cause we had a mutual goal. This businessman had ties to a human trafficking ring and was being bankrolled by the Hand. Wilson was hired to free the people he was selling and I thought it was a good enough goal. Offered my help free of charge and the only thing I asked was that he give me some time to talk with that worthless sack of garbage for information. He agreed."

"And...And how does this lead to you making out with this guy?" Gwen asked slowly.

"We didn't  _make out_. Me and Wilson snuck into the back through the storage room while the rest of his team did clean up and one of the guards almost walked in on us. We could've fought our way out, but that would've made it harder to get to the guy. I was about to grab him and go invisible when the guy just pins me to the wall and...well, you know."

"Ah, trying to look like an innocent couple trying to get handsy in the back rooms." Cindy nodded, "Did it work?"

"Yeah, actually. Wilson's a pretty good actor when he puts his mind to it. He goes on and on about how we really didn't know and that he got a lot of drinking done and there were some tears in there too. Helps that he looks like a peeled avocado, so people usually feel bad for him. Guard told us to go back, Wilson knocked him out when his back was turned and we continued what we were doing."

"The makeout?" Mary Jane grinned wolfishly.

"No, the  _sneaking in_." Peter gave her a flat look, "We freed the people he was gonna sell, found the guy, I got what I needed and Wilson put a bullet in his head. He gave me his business card after that, said that if I wanted it I could join his group. Wasn't exactly tempted." He gave Gwen a sideways glance and smiled. Her chest warmed and it had nothing to do with Webster.

"I think we're missing the important question: was there tongue?" Gwen did  _not_  like the way Lana asked that question.

"...Yes, there was." Warm feeling was gone, "In my defense, I made it clear that if Wilson  _ever_  did anything like that again I'd shove those katanas of his up his rear end. Healing fast doesn't mean it don't hurt."

"Sure, sure. We're all very certain your mercenary tryst will never be repeated," Cindy said, "Well, that's it. I know more about you guys than I did an hour ago...and I'm kinda wishing I didn't."

"Sorry we don't all get to sleep with Lightning Gods, Cin." Peter snarked.

Gwen was about to add something before her phone beeped. She fished it out of her pocket and grinned when she read the screen, "Oooh, new Jameson podcast." Everyone around her immediately groaned.

"You seriously listen that garbage?" Cindy asked.

"He's funny. Sometimes. Mostly when he's not accusing me of being a mass murderer." She-Hulk suggested they took him to court for libel and slander, but Gwen had held off on it. She was quite happy in the knowledge that he'd been forced to resign in disgrace and that the only people who listened to his podcast were either other close-minded bigots or people looking to see an old man's impotent rage.

That and she didn't want to bother with the court appearances. She had better things to do with her time.

_"Hold on to your hats, folks, because I am about to tell you something you will not believe: I feel sorry for Spider-Man."_  All of them shared a look of disbelief sans Peter who looked just about done with the entire thing,  _"Yes, you heard that right folks, I feel pity for him. Now he's still a terrible person, don't get me wrong, but even terrible people have rights."_

"Where's he going with this shit?" Lana asked.

_"For you see, as terrible as he is, Spider-Man is also a **victim**. A victim of that menace known as **Spider-Woman**!"_

"And there it is." Mary Jane rolled her eyes.

_"Now I feel no pity for Peter Parker's actions. He turned himself into a monster and he got what he deserved."_ Gwen's grip on the beer can tightened. Maybe this was a bad idea,  _"However, that didn't give Spider-Woman the right to play judge, jury and executioner! If Peter Parker was to face his crimes it should've been under fair court and not at the hands of a vigilante!"_

"Can we just turn this off? It's not fun," Cindy said. Gwen nodded and was about to do just that when Jameson continued on.

_"But here's something a few of you are unaware of: Spider-Woman is a PERVERT!"_ Gwen spat out her beer for the second time that night and the phone fell to the floor. Peter rubbed her back as she coughed while Cindy handed her the tissues,  _"Now I don't know how some of you are unaware of it, but just look at the facts, people! She runs around town in that frankly bizarre outfit of hers and is encouraging easily influenced children and teenagers into following her example! Tell me, do you like the idea of your children running around in spandex? Cause I most certainly do not!"_

"It  _is_  a pretty tight outfit," Mary Jane hummed. Gwen just glared at her.

_"Not to mention that depraved relationship she has with her fellow vigilante! How old was Peter Parker when he was murdered? 15? 16? Whatever his age may be it certainly hasn't stopped Spider-Woman from swinging on in and robbing that cradle!"_  Peter looked distinctly uncomfortable and muttered something under his breath, _"As terrible as Spider-Man is, even he doesn't deserve to be taken advantage of by this perverse older woman, who almost certainly lied about her age and is very likely old enough to be his mother!"_

"I am not!" Gwen shouted through the tissues.

_"Worried parents, I urge you: keep an eye on your children, because we can't be sure that this deviant jezebel won't swing into town looking for new victims once she gets tired of her current-"_

Peter cut it off. An awkward silence settled over the group only to be broken by the sudden snicker that came from Lana, "Pfft...you know I could help you get a new costume if you want, grandma-" Gwen threw a pillow at her. Lana ducked the thrown projectile and stuck her tongue out, "Hey, it was just a suggestion, old lady! You should see how much of a good reception Jane's getting."

"Wait, really?" Mary Jane asked, both surprised and eager.

"Yep. Check out tweeter and blendr; people won't shut the fuck up about how awesome your costume is. Guess hoods are granny wear bow." Yes, Gwen did just give a teenage girl the middle finger. In her defense said teenager immediately gave her double middle fingers back, "Seriously though, that Jameson prick needs a boot up his ass. Fucking hate old bastards who think they know better just cause they've got saggier ballsacks than everyone else."

"Could we please tone down the cursing a bit?" Cindy huffed. Lana waved a hand at her casually, but it did the job. The awkward atmosphere was gone and it didn't take long for them to drift to another topic. Gwen smiled and leaned against Peter as Cindy started talking about her first day being assigned to the aptly dubbed Freak Beat. She really hoped they could do this for a while longer.

* * *

Matt awoke to a world on fire.

He sat up on the bed with a gasp and bit his tongue to keep from screaming. The cuts on his neck and chest burned and his right arm was pressed against his chest via a tight sling. He tried to move it experimentally and hissed. No, trying to heal that now wouldn't work. He'd need at least a few days rest to even try it. Ms. Stacy had made his life far more difficult than she likely even knew.

Oh well, it was within her rights. He deserved far worse.

He swung his bare feet over the edge of the bed and tried to stand. He managed to stay upright for only couple of seconds before the accumulated injuries forced him back down, "Haha..." His mouth parted into an open sneer. Pain. How long had it been since he'd felt it again? The first time he remembered was when he'd woken up in that Chaste compound all those months ago. His hands had been bound by chains and Stick had worked his magic.

He'd seen Stick's methods before, but to be on the other end of it was certainly an experience. He'd been cooperative, at least as best he could, but his memory was faded when he first awoke. Perhaps if they'd simply waited he would've recovered, but Stick didn't have time for that. The cuts and bruises, the taste of blood on his tongue. Stick knew how to make him hurt, and with pain came clarity. It was effective to be sure.

Stick and Karen, the stick (pun intended) and the carrot. Stick was there to probe his mind even if it killed him while Karen was there to nudge him to cooperation and ensure that he would never die no matter what the old man did.

Matt panted and pressed his back against the wall to the right of the bed. Bullseye clearly hadn't lost his penchant for brutality. He wondered briefly how Peter would've reacted if he knew. Despite his own admitted lack of inhibitions, Matt couldn't help but not want him to know. To know that the man who'd given up everything for him out of love, deranged and selfish as it may have been, had been turned into the monster Peter prevented him from being.

He truly was getting soft. Hopefully no one knew; he had a reputation to uphold.

The door at the other side of the room. His senses were still foggy, likely due to just coming up from the effects of drugs, but he recognized those soft footsteps and heartbeat anywhere, "Sister Maggie." He looked up and gave the nun a shark like smile. She had a tray in her hands with two cups filled with green tea. His favorite, "Come to check on your wayward lamb?"

"You shouldn't be awake." She sighed and set the tray by the bedside before pulling out a syringe from the nearby medical kit, "The painkillers must have worn off. Here, take these and-"

He grabbed her hand with his single free one and pried the syringe from her grasp, "You know how I feel about narcotics." Painkillers, tranquilizers- anything that muddled his senses he'd never take. He wouldn't even take novacaine for that dentist appointment he had a couple of months ago.

"The pain-"

"I'll handle it."

He tossed the syringe against the far wall hard enough to shatter it. Maggie sighed and sat on a nearby chair, "Always a stubborn one, you were." She picked up both cups and handed one to him. Matt took it and sniffed it warily, "Honestly? I wouldn't drug your drink. Don't you trust me?"

"Is that a trick question?" He took a small sip of the drink and hummed. It tasted heavenly, pun not intended.

"Why would it be?"

"Given our circumstances I would've thought the answer to that would be obvious." She and Helen Stacy both had survived the Beast's final death. He had no idea why, but he had a feeling that Karen had something to do with it either as another form of leverage or, far less likely, out of the goodness of her heart. The latter would've been far more probable if not for Ruth's presence.

Maggie sighed once more and set down her cup, "You do know I still care for you, right?"

"Oh? Last I checked I wasn't a blind little boy anymore." At first he'd resented her for blinding him, even if it had been an accident. She saved him from taking the brunt of the chemicals and yet had scarred him irreversibly all the same. Of course that had changed to hatred and resentment for his father later on. Maggie might have accidentally blinded him, but Jack had intentionally chosen to die out of pride.

"Matthew..."

"We can't go back to what we once were, Maggie. You can't be my mother, and I can't be your little boy." The only reason he trusted her to help him was because she was bound to Karen the same way he was, "You and Helen Stacy could bond over that, I think. Both mothers who lost the chance to see their children grow up. Except I imagine the former Mrs. Stacy is far more proud of what her child grew into than you are."

"It's not too late. God forgives-"

"God is merciful? God gives second chances?" He laughed bitterly, "No, not to me. My soul is damned, and you know what?  _I wouldn't have it any other way_." Maggie flinched like he struck her. In some ways he did, "I'm many things, but I'm not a coward. When the time comes for me I'll hold my head up high and greet the inferno with a smile. We all deserve to die with some amount of grace, hm?" He finished off his tea and stood, "Thank you for your hospitality."

"Do you plan to leave?"

"Not in my current state, no." He was naked save his underwear and a pair of loose pants. Even in Hell's Kitchen he'd draw attention. He grabbed his cane and used it to help keep balance, "I'll be out of your hair tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

"I understand. Please take care, my boy."

"I can't make promises I won't keep, Margaret."

He opened the door to the main room and and leaned against the doorframe to balance himself. A fair distance away, the Black Sky raised her head slightly from her kneeling position. Not looking at him exactly, but enough to act if needed. Whether that act would be to help him or up slit his throat he still had no idea.

Matt limped (Bullseye was  _very_  thorough) past her and she followed. He got halfway through the length of the room before the pain became too much again and he was forced to sit on one of the pews. She just stood and watched him, "Why did you help us?" She didn't respond and her heartbeat didn't waver in any way. It was to be expected. The Black Sky were almost inhuman after their transformations. They were more walking weapons than people.

Which made this one's decision to betray them...odd.

"Are you under orders? Can't be from Murakami; spying and subterfuge is beneath him." No movement at all, "Perhaps it came from Gao or Bakuto? Sowande wouldn't have swayed you. He relies too much on mercenaries and vices for that."

She finally did respond to that...by tilting her head ever so slightly. If he were anyone else he would've shouted in frustration, but right then he just laughed softly, "Or perhaps you think Peter can free you as he did me?" He grabbed the edge of the pew and pulled himself up, "He was the spearhead to ending the Beast's reign. Perhaps you believe he can perform another miracle and give you back what you lost?"

They were close now, Matt towering over her with a smile. She looked up at him without a word. Even if he had proper sight her expression would've been hidden by that mask of hers. Without her costume she would've looked almost harmless, a little woman with the waifish figure of a dancer. But just like Ms. Stacy, her appearance belied the blood on her hands.

She stepped back and he struck with his cane. She didn't even bother unsheathing her sword and simply blocked the pathetic blow with the sheath. She let out a soft sigh and pushed him back. It wasn't strong by any means, but in his weakened state it was enough to make him fall back to the pew. She stared at him for a few more seconds before turning on her heel and walking out.

Matt didn't worry. She'd be around when they needed her.

"You make such odd friends, Peter." There was a sudden vibration from his pocket. An audio message from Karen; she was coming to visit. Sighing, he tapped one of the other apps and listened to that delusional old man Jameson's rambling. Even when he was possessed by the Beast he found the man insufferable - self-righteousness tended to do that to demons - and even after being freed he found the man an annoying blowhard in love with the sound of his own voice.

Still, he was useful for keeping track of news concerning the Spiders, biased as it may have been.

_"You won't believe this folks, but these menaces have reached an all time low: burning down a hospital! Yes you heard that right! These criminals have finally shown their true colors and decided burning down the helpless who can't even defend themselves is their next sick kick! I have here with me a family who almost fell victim to these menaces! Speak!"_

Matt furrowed his brows. A burning hospital? Odd, most criminals were motivated by profit. Burning the sick didn't follow that.

_"Yes, Mr Jameson."_ A woman's voice,  _"Well, actually we should probably clarify. I got separated from my son in the confusion and he did nearly get hurt, but it wasn't because of Spider-Woman or the other heroes. In fact, she was the one who saved-"_

_"Ah, ah, ah! Ma'am, I understand this is a difficult time for you, but I do need you to remember clearly, because obviously you're confused. Spider-Woman was attacking your boy and-"_

_"You're wrong!"_

_"Oh, really?"_ Jameson's voice oozed condescension,  _"And who are you supposed to be?"_

_"M-My name's Jason, and I'm 7."_ Did Jameson not realize he'd been interrupted by a child or did he just not care?  _"There was a big bad guy there and he was going to grab me! Spider-Woman knocked him away and saved me! That's what happened!"_

_"Ma'am, you need to learn how to control your child because clearly he's also confused and misremembering things. I'm sure what really happened is that these two were working together and they had a disagreement over something completely unrelated. That it left you unharmed is just complete coincidence!"_

_"...Spider-Woman was right. You are a loser."_

_"What?! Listen here, young man-"_

_"Fuck you, grampa!"_

He chuckled lowly and picked himself back up, turning the audio off as he did. It appeared Peter and Ms. Stacy were just fine. Turning back to where he came, he went once more to the back room. Maggie was gone, likely either on a walk or to buy more medicine he wouldn't take. He limped to the nearby dresser and picked up the bottle of painkillers. He was almost tempted to take at least a couple.

The bottle flew and impacted with a nearby mirror hard enough to shatter it. He'd rack up quite a bill at the rate he was going. He trudged towards the broken shards littering the ground and knelt down slowly. He never really understood the purpose of it. Only he and Peter had ever stayed in this room and both of them had been blind when they had done so. A mirror was pointless.

The cane dropped and he picked up a particularly large shard with his now-free hand. He gripped it tightly, mouth twitching as it cut through his palm. It hadn't worked before, but... "Always a chance." He took a deep breath and raised the tip of the glass to the right side of his neck, his hand shaking all the while. Even now a part of him feared the act itself, even if everything else welcomed it.

The glass had barely touched skin before the tattoo on his neck  _burned_. Matt screamed and the glass fell against the wooden floor with a dull clatter. He couldn't reach out for it again. Matt fell on his side and curled in on himself, unable to do anything but bite his tongue to keep himself from screaming more. Even now he still couldn't discard his pride.

The clicking of heels brought him out of his pained haze. Matt growled and looked up at Karen's- no, Ruth's blurry form. It didn't matter if she wore Karen's face, she wasn't her, "I think you'll be happy to know that Ms. Hardy has officially agreed to shelve her vendetta for you." It frustrated him to no end that he couldn't discern whether she was mocking him or not. It was well within her right for her to want him to suffer, but if she did then she was never open about it.

"Oh?" he asked back mockingly.

"Yes. It was surprisingly simple. Now we only have to worry about Mr. Castle." Then no one else useful would come back seeking vengeance. Matt grit his teeth and she hummed, "You're upset about something."

"...Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why won't you just let me die?" His voice came out on slow, desperate rasp. It was pathetic, "I gave you  _everything!_ Information on the Hand, everything I knew...you have other pawns. You don't need me, so why..."

Karen...Ruth...whoever they really were. They knelt on the ground and put his head on their lap. A comforting gesture, but if comfort was what she intended then she'd failed, "You know why." Her voice was so soft, so reassuring. He wanted to trust it, but he couldn't. Her hand ruffled through his hair like a lover would and her next words felt more damning than anything else.

"Because she loves you."

* * *

Cindy woke up feeling better than she had in weeks, which was odd considering she had a monster of a hangover.

The senior Spider sat up with a yawn and was almost yanked back down by the grip on her left arm. Yawning again, she rubbed her eyes with her free hand and looked back only to smile at the sight that greeted her. The entire group - even Aracely, somehow - all bunched up together as they slept. Lana was the one holding on to her arm in a surprisingly tight grip while Aracely in turn hugged the teenager's back like she was a giant teddy bear.

Peter, Gwen and Mary Jane took up her right. The youngest spider (still kinda hard to believe given how he acted) was using Gwen's stomach as a pillow and she hugged him close by protectively. Mary Jane was the same, lying against Gwen's left shoulder with her legs tangled up against the blonde's. They actually looked peaceful, which was a sad rarity nowadays.

Prying herself from the pile, she grabbed for her (thankfully still charged) phone and took a quick picture. First because it was adorable, and second because it'd be good for embarrassment material later.

She grabbed some aspirin and water and Peter woke up just when it started to kick in, "Hey..." He waved off the offered meds, "I'm good. One good thing about this chi nonsense is that hangovers are easy to fix." Odd, considering chi was also the reason he could even  _get_  drunk in the first place. Another reason she didn't wanna deal with mystical BS, "Time is it?"

"Half hour past 6." They really should've have played that game of never have I ever. On the bright (blackmail) side she found out that Gwen did in fact experiment with tentacles on her free time. Apparently she 'understood the appeal, but wasn't really into it'. good news for Peter, "Hey, I'm gonna cook something for the snorlaxes over there. Could you help me out?"

"Sure. Just tell me where you want me."

15 minutes later and they were side by side cooking a big and hearty breakfast. She could already hear the others being roused by the smell of ham and eggs, "Pass me the seasoning." She gave the bottle to Peter and flipped the flapjacks through the air before catching them with a slight spin. No one ever said you couldn't make cooking fun. Peter smiled at her and she bowed, "Nice one."

"Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week."

"Ha..." He looked down at his own sizzling food and asked softly, "Hey...could I ask you something personal?"

"Shoot."

"Do you ever...you ever think about going back? To your own dimension, I mean." She almost dropped the flapjack, "I got the chance to see 'home' and make the choice, but you...I know the spooks offered and you said no."

"Because there's nothing left for me back there." Her smile was somber, "It's like I said before, Pete. My parents are gone, and I'm pretty sure my boyfriend's engaged with kids now." He always was a long term thinker. He wanted two kids, a boy and a girl, before they were 30. She'd agreed with him on the condition that they were stable enough for it, "But here...yeah, it's a pain in the ass, but my friends are here. You, my evil twin's family...it's a life. Not the best, but it's there."

"Well...I'm glad I'm not the only stranger here."

She smiled and bumped her shoulder against his. Guy was a dork sometimes, "...Hey, totally platonic question, but do you think I'm hot? Or someone you'd take home to mom and dad?"

"Uh...what?"

"Well, I just told you about my ex-boyfriend." She rolled her eyes, "You've heard all about my disastrous love life last night and I'm wondering if it's cause I'm doing something wrong. I mean, it can't  _always_  be the guy's fault. 1% of the time it has to be me."

"Never underestimate stupidity, Cin." Oh, she definitely didn't. She still remembered old wolfbeard, as she so 'affectionately' dubbed him. It didn't get much lower than a dude who had special snowflake syndrome as his superpower and thought that he turned into a werewolf at night because...something about his ancestry? She'd almost fallen for it - hey, the world they lived in it honestly wouldn't have been  _that_  shocking - if not for the fact that his 'mad rampage' included rolling around on a parking lot in his undies while screaming about how tortured he was.

Sad part? Wasn't even her worst date. That one went to when she tried going out with Korg.

"Yeah, I guess..." She flipped over the last flapjack and shut off the stove, "It's just that...after over a dozen failed dates in a row I'm starting to think something's wrong with me."

"You're aces in my book, Cin."

"Thanks, Pete."

Everyone was awake by the time they were setting the table. Gwen yawned and the baby snake thing jutted out of shoulder, mimicking her. Gwen rubbed its head and it crooned. She had to admit, that was cute, "Morning, sleepyheads," Cindy greeted.

Everyone greeted her back with varying degrees of enthusiasm and they sat around her oddly spacious table, "So, what were you two talking about?" Gwen asked tiredly. Mary Jane and Lana still looked half asleep while Aracely kept hugging Lana without even paying attention to the food.

"Oh, I asked Peter if he thought I looked hot."

Gwen didn't say anything for a few seconds before suddenly looking her up and down, "I'd say so. I mean, you're pushing 30 and still look like you should be getting ID'd. Lotta guys are into that." Cindy refrained from mentioning she definitely still was getting ID'd whenever she bought beer, "You can be pretty strict, though. Kinda turns people off."

"I'm  _not_  strict. Everyone around me is just dumb."

"I agree with Gwencent." Mary Jane said sleepily, "Definite 9/10 at the least. I'd take you out if you want."

"...How many times do I have to tell people I'm straight before it finally sticks?"

"Wait, you're straight?" Lana asked, "Cause I coulda sworn I saw some grindr posts about you being a gay icon. Might wanna fix that."

Cindy covered her face with both hands and groaned. She wasn't really active in the social media scene like Gwen, She-Hulk and the rest were. She had accounts, but the last time she'd made posts were months ago. She just didn't see the point, though maybe that was the old woman in her talking. She also didn't see the point of carrying those Upads everywhere when a pen and some paper would work.

Across from her, Gwen's phone suddenly beeped and she tapped it without even looking at the screen. J. Jonah Jameson's voice suddenly filled the air.

_"The internet's rife with discussions after a picture of Spider-Man and Spinerette working together surfaced, and apparently there are hordes of young people **cheering**  them on!" _Gwen dropped her spoon in shock,  _"They're called 'shippers'. No, that has nothing with boats, it's short for 'relationship'. As in, they really want Spider-Man and Spinerette to be together...romantically...or they really don't."_

"Ha!" Mary Jane laughed.

_"And on the other side you have people who think he 'belongs' to that menace Spider-Woman. And these 'sides' have quite intense arguments over it. 'Shipping wars', I believe is the term. You know in my day, we didn't have time for 'shipping' or 'shipping wars'. You know why? CAUSE WE HAD JOBS!"_

"I actually agree with the guy." Cindy groaned.

_"So here's J. Jonah Jameson's public service announcement for our youth: you're into shipping? JOIN THE NAVY!"_

Silence again. Gwen cut the podcast off and clicked a link that popped up. The picture in question was from the fight last night when she and Peter had been back to back before they agreed to switch baddies. The uploader's name was GPool, "...It  _is_  a pretty good picture. Very shippy." Cindy glared at Mary Jane while Gwen looked between Cindy and Peter warily.

"...Why did you ask Peter if he thought you were hot?" Gwen asked through narrowed eyes.

"Seriously?" Cindy asked back incredulously. Lana snorted into her plate, "Calm your rolls, Gwen. Trust me, Pete's not my type. Unlike certain other Spiders at the table, I don't go after teenagers."

"...Screw you." Gwen actually looked like she was going to laugh, but she held it in at the last second. Least she was smiling about it now.

"I think we've established that I'm not into tacos, but thanks." The younger Spider gave her the middle finger.

"I mean I'm not really surprised. You two are a pretty popular couple." Mary Jane said lightly, "The way Cindy talks about you in interviews it's clear you're friends and a lot of people really want Gwen to be a free agent, so pairing you two off is the easiest bet." Everyone just looked at her and she shrugged, "Hey, Gayle ships you two. It's cause she wants Gwencent, but still."

"Yeah, she won't shut up about it," Lana added.

"So what's everyone's plans for today?" Cindy asked, mostly so they'd stop talking about her and Peter together. Gross. He was like...her little brother or something. He was actually younger than the Albert of this dimension.

"Back to school," Lana said. Aracely had finally let go of her and started  _devouring_  her food, "Aracely's staying here, right?"

"For a few days, at least." They'd need to find another place for her before Daisy came for her next check-in. She definitely didn't want to explain the psychic, flying teenage girl. Maybe she could stash her at Shadowcat's place?

"I gotta go check on Matt, make sure he didn't bleed out," Peter muttered. Gwen and Lana frowned the second they heard the former Kingpin's name, "After that I'll probably meet up with Blade. Rather nip this Vampire thing in the bud before it gets worse." Vampires? How weird. Whatever happened to just dealing with mutates and aliens?

"I'll go back home to check on Helena then me and Webster'll drop in with Wasp to figure out what's up with our baby," Gwen said.

"...Wait, you're pregnant?" Lana gave Gwen a raised brow.

"Technically Webster is, but she says it both of ours. Long story."

"Guess I'll go check on my dad too and see if I got the modeling gig," Mary Jane said last.

"I didn't know you were seeing your dad again," Gwen said idly.

"It's...pretty new." She smiled slightly. It was obviously forced, "We have each other's numbers anyway, so if anything comes up we'll call."

"Right." Cindy smiled. Hopefully this'd make things easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the protags are having a fun slumber party while Matt's...not feeling so good, Ms. Page. Again I found his segment to be a real treat since I've never written a reformed villain who was the bad guy in the last story. Again I find myself wondering if the audience sympathizes with him or thinks everything he's going through it just karma for all the shit he pulled.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Quick one before we write Cindy's next segment. Since I added the Cindy and Laura relationship, do you guys think I should swap out Black Cat for Shadowcat as Cindy's partner? Trading cats, essentially. If we do so then I'll also shift Black Cat to MJ, though this means losing the burgeoning odd friendship buddy cop routine Cindy and Felicia would have had.
> 
> 2\. So...now that we've seen damaged Matt and his really unhealthy relationship with Karen, are people still for a Matt/MJ pairing or is he too damaged goods even for her?
> 
> 3\. What do you guys think of Mary Jane's relationship with Carnage? Okay? Boring? Anything that can be improved?


	13. Spider Troubles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna watch Endgame with family again tomorrow so I thought I'd update this. Due to the votes I'll focus on Peter and Gwen first followed by Lana then Cindy and finally Mary Jane.
> 
> Another new thing I'm trying after replaying the PS4 Spidey game and reading the fanfic 'Right around 3 am' is adding twitter posts between the line breaks. It should allow me to show how the citizens react to the events that take place in the story and allow for some more controlled cringe comedy. Tell me if you guys think I should continue with it or remove the entire thing.

**ProducerJared:** Spider-Woman and a group of criminals attempted to burn down a hospital and nearly killed an innocent child. Tune in to  **JustTheFacts** to hear  **JJJAtHome's** exclusive take on this tragedy.

**Reply from InfinityMobius: JJJAtHome** spouting BS again. Was at the hospital. Spider-Woman saved me from the guy actually trying to burn it down.

**Reply from** **StuManGroup:** Yep. Brother's a cop on the scene. They arrested the actual culprits and none of them are from Spider-Woman's group. More fear mongering.

**Reply from** **MorganManfree** : Anyone see the new hero with the group? The one in red with the long hair?

**Reply from** **FreedomWillSetYouTrue:** She's calling herself Scarlet Spider. She just made a tweeter account a couple of hours ago:  **ScarletSpider**

**Reply from** **MorganManfree:**...I think I'm in love.

**Reply from** **FreedomWillSetYouTrue:** Dude, pretty sure she cut one guy's legs off.

**Reply from** **MorganManFree:** I don't see the downside.

* * *

Sometimes Peter looked back and thought on how odd his life had become.

Not that he'd ever had a normal life to begin with. Waking up in that alley and finding out his entire life as he knew it wasn't real was...unpleasant. Still, even then he'd stuck to fighting what he knew. Mob bosses with overinflated egos (Hammerhead was still in the slammer despite his promises of revenge) and psychopaths like Frost or Jack. Violent, insane and murderous to be sure, but human all the same. Familiar.

Now he was killing Vampire cheerleaders and he couldn't help but think this was a step too far.

Peter ducked under the lunging brunette and grabbed her leg before slamming her to the ground. The entire group of schoolgirls were turned to the last woman. He almost felt guilty until he overheard them bragging to each other about some of the things they'd done. Blade made it clear that Vampirism wasn't mind control -at least not in most cases, and those exceptions weren't much better considering the person died and a parasite ran around their body like it was a meatsack.

It gave you the hunger, yes, but many other Vampires had chosen death or alternative means to stave off hurting others - blood packs, chewing on rats; he knew at least one Vampire doctor who hadn't killed any of his patients in decades. These ones just reveled in it like junkies on a high and their friends and family into personal slaves, running the school like it was their own personal kingdom.

Now they were facing the consequences.

He stabbed her in the back of the neck with the hellfire knife before shooting her right in the brainpan. Brutal, but quick and mostly painless, "Suki!" A tan girl screamed. Peter dodged her attempts to cut his neck open and sliced open her back. She stumbled onto her hands and knees and Peter followed with another shot, this one going through her eyes. She mumbled something unintelligible and crumpled next to her counterpart.

Behind him, Blade sliced through two more of the coven (Blade's words, not his). Peter dodged to avoid a lunge that came from his side and shot the redhead - one of them called her Heather - through where her heart should have been. She continued to lunge at him and managed to slam him to the ground before a fleeting touch near his neck burned her hand and sent her scrambling back.

Peter's hand raised and he smiled when he felt the weight of Martin's rosary. Even now he was looking out for him. The redhead continued to hiss in pain, her face warped and mangled with gray and leathery skin, until Blade stabbed her through the forehead without any fanfare, "Only the leader left," the Damphir muttered.

He didn't like hanging out with Blade much. He had no problems with the guy personally, on the contrary he really appreciated his professionalism, but something about the part-Vampire bothered Peter. Maybe it was the leather trenchcoat or maybe it was the magical katana. All seemed so over the top. Like he was trying as hard as he could to be one of those tough guys in the old movies Cin loved.

Peter lowered the hood of his leather jacket and put away the hellfire knife, "You go ahead." He took out a cigarette and lit it with a quick flick while Blade stalked towards the crawling blonde on the gym floor. Heather was her name, and apparently she'd been repeating high school for the past 100 years. He had no idea why; who'd want a repeat of this?

Blade stabbed her right in the heart and she screamed like a dying banshee. Peter turned away slightly and sucked harder on the cigarette when her skin turned as gray and rancid as the rest of her group. He hated Vampires. Worse than demons, all of them.

And suddenly, like the clicking of a camera, the people around them unfroze. Many screamed, though it wasn't for the coven (God that word sounded odd). In recent days they'd gone from subtle manipulation and puppetry to full on mind control. It was the main reason Blade had even be able to track them - if they just kept their head down he would've missed it entirely because, honestly, Vampire cheerleaders? Sounded off.

The principal, a portly, middle aged man that reminded him somewhat of Ben, immediately shook his hand, "Th-Thank you...! Both of you!" Blade waved off the thanks while Peter shook the hand awkwardly. Still wasn't used to this whole being thanked thing, but it'd been happening more recently. Killing people who weren't human tended to get a lot less judgement.

"It's fine..." He eyed the rest of the crowd, "You gonna be okay?"

"Y-Yes, now we will be."

Blade left the bodies intact; easier to explain that way. The principal thanked them again and Peter got back to Blade, "So...we done here?" Hopefully someone got rid of them before the stench hit.

"Yeah." Blade nodded, reticent as always, "I owe you."

"Whatever you say."

They opened the door to the street outside and they were immediately surrounded by a mix of curious high school students, teachers and, of course, police. He still didn't like the cops, and they didn't much like him, but so far they gave each other a wide berth. Most of em didn't cry for the kinds of scumbags he targeted and it didn't take them long to realize that there was a severe lack of vigilantes who could tackle Vampires and Demons and whatever else this madhouse pulled out of its hat.

So there was an unspoken agreement: he didn't step on their toes too much and they didn't haul him off to the bighouse like the scum he was. In exchange he dealt with whatever pile of insanity that they couldn't. Worked out so far.

The officer at the front looked past them and grimaced at the gray, rotting husks of the 'schoolgirls' behind them, "Ugh, I fucking hate this shit." Peter sympathized. He felt the same way, "Don't suppose one of you's gonna stay behind for a comment?"

Peter and Blade looked at one another and, right before the stoic Vampire hunter could walk away, Peter suddenly said, "You did say you owed me a favor." His eyes might've narrowed. Peter couldn't be sure; always covered in shades, "Go ahead. I gotta meet with Daimon and Ketch anyway. Consider the favor paid."

He left with a cheeky wave and pushed through the crowd, ignoring their questions and comments; a lot of which had nothing to do with the Vampires they'd just culled. Mostly it was requests for private interviews for such and such newspaper, asking about the rumors that had spread (no, he was pretty sure he wasn't secretly a Skrull) and a few choice comments about his relationship with Gwen.

He made sure to disappear as he turned the corner to make sure he couldn't be followed. Last thing he wanted was a crowd.

Peter made sure he was alone before shucking off his mask and replacing the jacket with a different one. He doubted anyone would recognize him at a glance a year later, but it was better safe than sorry. He pulled up the white cloth hood and put on a pair of (unneeded) glasses. Cindy had insisted on it and claimed that 'it was the perfect disguise' and that it was 'Clark Kent guaranteed'. He had no idea who Kent was, but apparently it had his guarantee.

He called Diamon's phone, "Hey, you ready?"

"Me and Daniel are already together at the rendezvous point."

"Alright, I'll meet you there."

He got on the bike (another loan from Moon Knight) and followed the GPS location. The almost mindless drive made him think back again. It was only a little over a year ago when he claimed (not untruthfully) that he hated partners and teammates. Too much baggage, too many ways it could end with them shooting him in the back, intentionally or otherwise. He just didn't see the point.

And now he couldn't go more than an hour or two before his phone was buzzing in his ear. Maybe another job offer from Wade (who refused to get that No Pants Friday wasn't a tempting offer) or a message from Gwen and Lana because they were bored. It was...odd. Not unpleasant, but still odd. Now if only he could stop Wilson from sending him those annoying selfies of his...

He parked the bike short distance away from the location and changed back to his outfit, stuffing the spare jacket into the bike's compartment. Technically speaking there was no point to it after the incident with Jack, but being back in New York brought out old habits along with the vain hope that the new stubble and hair would stop people from recognizing him.

The rendezvous point ended up being a small diner. Peter walked in mask and all and sat at the corner booth across from Daimon and Ketch, "Couldn't pick some place more private, Daimon?" Many of the other patrons were outright gaping and taking pictures, though a blessed few paid him no mind. Apparently they'd gotten used to insanity.

"We have other business to discuss." Daimon waited for him to finish ordering some pancakes and bacon before continuing, "Are you aware that there's a bounty on your head?"

"Which one?" The Hand still had a standing bounty left over from when he arrived in Japan, though it'd diminished heavily in price once Alexandria was out of the picture. He was sure there were a few other mob families that wanted his head, though. La Cosa Nostra held a grudge for a long time.

"Unknown. The client prefers to remain anonymous." He smirked and waved his cane around, "You don't seem worried."

"You do realize we're about to fight a den of demons, right?"

"Hmm, point." Daimon laughed softly, "Still, I worry even if you don't. The price was...substantial."

"30 million dollars," Ketch said. Peter whistled softly. He was almost flattered someone thought he was worth that much, though he was pretty sure Gwen and Lana wouldn't have agreed,. Yet another reason for him not to get an apartment under his own name, "Karen has been looking into it. She doesn't want you dead, at least not yet."

"How touching." He unbuckled the lower half of his mask and smiled at the waitress as shes set the food down. She actually gave him a friendly smile back, "Is that the reason why we're meeting at a public place?"

"Yes, I've heard the Silver Samurai's coming for you. Are you aware of him?"

"Only rumors. A guy dressed like a chromed up ronin's gonna get attention from anyone." Peter drank the black coffee and sighed in relief, "One of the best assassins in the world, according to the rumors?"

"Yes. Part of the new breed of hired killers." Yeah, it was an odd phenomenon. A few years ago a suit, a balaclava and a sniper rifle was the sign of a good assassin. Now you needed a rainbow colored costume and some piece of gear someone else couldn't just buy off the store. Didn't matter if it was gauntlets shooting electricity or a piece of rope less practical than a garrote.

In this case, Silver Samurai lived up to his name. Shiny silver armor and a sword he'd guzzied up so much that it could 'cut through anything'.

"Daimon wants to lure him out. Thinks that showing up in a public place for a bit is the right draw," Ketch said.

"What about the people here? I don't want them hurt."

"I wouldn't worry. I've placed enough protection around the diner. This place is more secure than Stark Tower." He chucked and leaned back on his seat, "That and it'll give us the chance to catch up. I've missed you, old friend."

"Yeah, you too." Peter smiled. He didn't think he'd end up making friends with the Son of Satan, but this was where he ended up, "I know I asked before, but are you sure you'll be alright. That cane's making me worry." He still remembered when he first met Daimon. Neatly pressed hair and a muscled physique hidden behind a six figure suit. Peter was sure he'd hate him.

"With you and Daniel by my side, I'm certain I'll be fine."

"Us being there didn't stop you from having to give up almost everything," Ketch muttered. Peter could tell he was guilty. Guy has a bit of a complex about being the weaker Rider in comparison to that Blaze guy.

"Well, we're not stopping the apocalypse this time. Lilith's coven-"  _again_  with that word, "-should prove easier to dispatch. After we deal with Peter's stalker issue, of course."

Peter was about to comment on his choice of words when he felt a tap on his shoulder. For a second he thought that the assassin had come earlier than he thought, then he turned to look and immediately disregarded that thought. Last he checked he'd never seen any 16 year old world class assassins. He'd seen a monkey, but not any teenagers.

There were three of them. A boy who looked 16, a girl who was a year or two younger and another boy who was probably 9 at the oldest. Kids, really. He wasn't the best with them.

"Something you needed?" he asked somewhat awkwardly.

"We were just wondering if we could a picture with you," the boy said shyly, "We're uh, we're all big fans."

"Uh...fans?" He knew the coppers turned a blind eye, but fans? Especially after he left for a year? He would've thought Gwen's pleas would've faded from memory by now.

"Yeah! You're Spider-Man! You beat that big demon thing in Times Square!" The little boy piped up. He still had no idea what S.H.I.E.L.D did with the body. A part of him expected to find it being experimented on in some lab underneath the city.

"Could we get an autograph too? I wanna show my friends!" The girl added last.

"Um..." He looked to Daimon and Ketch, who were of course no help. The former just leaned back in his seat and smirked at him while the latter focused on his heart attack sandwich and pretended nothing was happening, "Ah...okay, sure." He tried his best to smile. This was wrong. He didn't care if Gwen or Cindy had their fans, but him? If there was one thing he agreed with Jameson on it was that he wasn't someone  _anyone_  should look up to. He was a killer and a vigilante, not a Superhero like Gwen and the others.

He wrote down his 'autograph' on the offered piece of paper stiffly and made a limp pose when they crowded around him for a selfie. They all waved goodbye cheerily and as soon as they were far enough Peter looked away with red on his cheeks. That was...embarassing. He could only hope Gwen, Cindy, Lana and Mary didn't see it. He didn't need that right now.

Daimon chuckled, "Are you honestly surprised? Beating a demon does come with its perks."

"Shut it, Dami." He swallowed and tried to will away his (not) blush.

"Could always take Mephisto's deal. People tend to stay away from the flaming skulls."

"Not helping, Ketch."

They stayed and talk (and ate, cause Gwen had been really insistent he start eating normally) for half an hour more before Daimon agreed it was time to leave. The three of them made their way to the agreed on location. People took pictures, along with a really annoying guy running next to them with a selfie stick, but apart from that no one actually bothered to follow.

"Here." Daimon gestured to the entrance leading to a subway. It was covered in police tape, which Daimon immediately cut with the sharp end of his cain without a care, "Fake. Police tape makes it easier to draw people away."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because I saw them set it up earlier."

They made their way down. Peter made sure to keep an eye on Daimon as they descended. He said he could handle himself, but the way he looked now reminded Peter of his own condition after he...lost Bullseye. Hard to believe the man who'd once overpowered him in a grapple now needed a cane to walk.

"Get ready, Peter," Daimon said as they were on the bottom. The entire subway was abandoned, "We're about to have guests."

It wasn't what he expected. His spider-sense rang just before he heard an impact from above. Peter flipped to the side right before a figure clad in silver burst through the roof down towards him, "Silver Samurai, hm?" Why did he always get the freaks? He doubted his brother had to deal with this. Just regular, genocidal megalomaniacs with god complexes.

Daimon tapped his cane against the ground and smirked, "Pin him to the wall."

A black, shadowy  _thing_  leaked out of Daimon's body and, before the world's most out of place assassin could do anything, it lunged towards him. The chromed up ronin screamed a curse in Japanese and tried to slash through it. The blade cut through the amorphous blob (looking closer, it actually resembled a facsimile of a panther) almost harmlessly and impaled him against the wall with multiple jutting spikes.

Peter almost felt sorry for the guy when the silver was stained red. Just another thing he had to accept - sometimes the world's best assassins paled in comparison to the insanity of the supernatural.

"What do we do with him?" Daimon asked, still smirking.

"Let's leave him for the cops. Doubt they care about him trying to off me, but this guy's been on the international watch list for about a decade now." He'd killed at least one president, last he checked, "But first..."

Peter walked towards him and Daimon summoned the shadow back. Long John Silver almost fell to the ground in a heap before Peter grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall, "Alright, tough guy. Who hired you?" He glared down at him and spat a bloody wad of saliva on his mask. Peter sighed, "Fine, let's do this the hard way."

Peter unsheathed the Hellfire and stabbed it into his gut.

The bastard screamed and Peter twisted it around quickly before pulling the knife out, "That's the same kind of magic my friend's got. That wound? It's never gonna heal." Peter leaned in close to whisper, "That pain you're feeling now? It'll last for  _days_. I know you think you're untouchable because you've killed a few innocent families, but you really wanna take this?"

The guy tried to bite his tongue, but eventually he caved. Everyone did; Hellfire was a bitch, "Roxxon...Roxxon corporation," he muttered, voice thick with accent. Peter's eyes narrowed. Roxxon? Well, he'd worked with Domino's group to expose some of their human experimentation operations during his time in Houston. Made sense, but why now? That was months ago.

Peter made sure the stab would heal before punching him in the face and webbing him to the wall. Cops could handle him, "...They heard his screaming." Ketch unfurled the chain from his wrist before his skull was engulfed in fire. Daimon smirked and summoned more of the shadows while Peter held the knife and a gun, one in each hand.

"Just like old times."

They came down both tunnels in a swarm. Pale, gangly things with sharp nails and even sharper teeth. Lilith's 'children', the spawn of the mother of all demons. He really didn't want the image of her pregnant in his head.

**"I'll handle the left. You two deal with the right."**

Ketch split the chains and shot them forward in a superheated barrage. The demons in front the swarm were perforated clear through with their buddies behind them following suit. Those in the back stepped over the corpses of the fallen to charge at the flaming skull.

"Ready?" Peter asked.

"As I'll ever be." Daimon chuckled.

Peter slashed the first one that lunged at him and shot at two more. Daimon kept his distance and summoned both the panther and what looked like a serpent, which immediately rushed to help him, "That's new." He jumped over the swipe of another and tossed a fire grenade into one of the larger clusters. Ironically enough, Lillith's spawn hated fire. Something about her being tied to the Vampires Blade loved to hunt.

One of them slipped past him to Daimon and Pete cursed. The frail look man just grinned before another creature, this time in a shape he couldn't even recognize, suddenly impaled it through the chest with a wide blade, "Back to hell." He smashed its face in with his cane and and turned to Peter, "Don't worry about me. Focus on your own."

"Point taken."

Peter tossed another grenade at a cluster and picked his shots while Ketch erected a barrier of hellfire over the tunnel entrance. Daimon snapped his fingers and summoned what looked like a bird, "Go fetch." Peter swore he heard the thing cackle before it charged towards two more of lilith's spawn and pierced through them like a bullet.

They didn't die.

"Apologies, Peter, but you'll have to do the killing for me. Part of the loopholes, you see." Daimon smiled.

Peter didn't bother asking and just stabbed the prone demons before they could get back up. They'd have time for explanations later, "Behind you." He pointed past Daimon to the spawn trying to slash at his back. The half-demon disappeared briefly before suddenly reappearing behind said demon and stabbed the cane through its chest.

"Return to the underworld." He kicked it towards Peter. He grabbed it, slammed it against the ground and stabbed till it faded into dust. One good thing about Lilith's children: no bodies left behind. Made clean-up really convenient.

Ketch burned one of the last remaining demons and grunted,  **"Blackout's coming."** Peter shared a look with Daimon and he tightened his grip on the knife ever so slightly. He'd heard horror stories about the guy. There was nothing he wouldn't hurt if it meant harming you. Peter wasn't scared; Jack wasn't much different and this time they were ready.

The area was suddenly covered in darkness wit only Ketch's blue fire to serve as light. He heard a chuckling around him,  _ **"More flesh for the feast, Daniel?"**_ The voice was like nails on a chalkboard. Reminded him of Mary's tagalong,  _ **"You were foolish to come here below. This where I am strongest."**_

"Hiding in the tunnels like a rat," Peter called out, "Big talk coming from the guy who sent his mommy's kids to do the fighting for him." Blackout was a lot of things, but more than anything he was an egotistical child. He couldn't take the idea of his ego being bruised, that's why he went after the innocent and the helpless. He was scared of fighting.

Time to push his buttons.

"I heard about you, you know? How you  _begged_ and  _cried_  whenever you were on the other end of the knife. What's this show all about, huh? Think we're like those kids whose beds you hide under? We ain't scared of the dark, 'Blackout', so just go on and run back to mommy. It's the only thing you're good for."

**_"...I will feast on you_ slow _, Spider."_**

Behind him. Peter jumped back over him and slashed is back right before he disappeared into the darkness again, "Daimon, Ketch, you see him?"

"Afraid not."

**"No."**

"Great..." He could see in the dark, but that wasn't much useful here. Blackout disappeared into the Shadows the same way he himself did. Sight wouldn't work. Time to use his ears, "The fire stings, doesn't it?" He yelled, "Why don't you go find a pair of 5 year olds to scare? Oh wait, nevermind. That's a bit too much for you. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

The footsteps and raspy breaths came closer.

"You know what? You're not even worth it. I dunno why Ketch bothered with you for so many years. If he wanted to waste his time there were other  _rats_  he could've stomped on."

To the right. Peter turned just as Blackout materialized in the darkness and webbed his face, "Now!" He slashed his chest and webbed his legs before Ketch wrapped the burning chain around his arms. Blackout screamed and fell on his knees, though it was muffled by the web on his face. Good thing he didn't need to breath; that way Peter didn't feel guilty clogging his throat.

"Taunting. An odd tactic. Did you pick that up from Spider-Woman?" Daimon smiled at him before kneeling down in front of the helpless lilin, "Hmm, we'll have to interrogate him to find any information. It would take days, at least. Why don't you leave it up to me and Daniel?"

"You sure?"

Ketch went back to normal and cracked his knuckles, "We're sure."

He said his goodbyes to them and sat down on the bench. He'd just helped capture a thousands years old demonspawn with the maturity of a 10 year old...what the hell was he doing with his life? He opened his phone and looked at the messages. One from Gwen saying she was over at Wasp's, another from Lana griping about how boring school was and a final one from Cindy asking his help with the Maggia crime families.

That last one drew his attention. He couldn't work with the cops openly, but it might've been nice - if that was the right word to use - to go back to human crime for a while. It was what he was best at.

He was about to stand before he a slow, mocking clap. He turned to the source with his gun raised and almost dropped it at the sight of the all too familiar figure, "Hey, kid. You look happy to see me." Bullseye leaned against the pillar and smirked down at him.

"How...?" Was this another dream? Or a delusion of some kind?"

"You seriously asking that? You've been back twice now. I'm actually behind ya." He stopped leaning against the pillar and walked close to him, "Let's just say a special someone plucked me out of the fiery pits and-"

Peter hugged him. It was odd. He was hardly the most affectionate person, especially not towards Bullseye, but seeing him again after the way they parted...he couldn't stop himself, "I'm sorry. I'm not gonna let you die again. I promise."

"Heh...I'm happy to see you too, kid."

He didn't hear the blare of his spider-sense till the knife was inches through his gut and the blood started pouring out, "Bullseye...?" He looked up at him in shock. Bullseye just smiled and drive the knife in deeper.

* * *

**SpiderCat4Eva: -embedded image-**  I just met Spider-Man at a diner! Me and my brothers took a picture!

**Reply from**   **No1StrikerFan -** So Spider-Man just happens to walk into a diner and you take a picture with him? Bullshit.

**Reply from No1BombshellFan**  - It's legit, buncha people are posting it. Guess he really likes Mick's Diner?  **#superheroesareweird**

**Reply from thisisaname** \- How's he walking around after he killed a bunch of schoolgirls? It's disgusting.

**Reply from**   **No1BombshellFan** \- Dude, those schoolgirls were Vampires who mind controlled their entire school. Look it up.

**Reply from**   **thisisaname** \- Vampire schoolgirls? You believe that?

**Reply from No1BombshellFan -** Right, it's not like we dealt with weirder shit like an alien invasion- oh right **#aliensarereal #andsoarevampires**

**Reply from ITSME:** Who's the goth guy and the biker?

**Reply from YOOOOO:** Dunno, but goth guy's a real cutie! Think Spidey'd set me up?

* * *

"She's here, she's here!"

Gwen was barely out of the elevator before Hope practically tackled her back in, "Oof, Hope! It's good to see you too!" She hugged the shorter van Dyne with a laugh while behind her Kate held Helena protectively, "Be careful, though. We brought Helena with us."

Hope squealed and immediately started grabbing and cooing at the (thankfully freshly rested) infant. It was Gwen's idea to bring her along. Dad and Jess were out on a case/hospital visit and she didn't want the archer to get stir crazy alone in the house, "Oooh, she's so cute!" Hope started poking her cheeks. Helena held on to the pointer finger of her other hand, "And tiny!"

"That's what babies are like, kiddo." Kate stopped kneeling and started rocking Helena again. Kate had been surprisingly good with kids, which she'd attributed to 'having to take care of an adult sized one' for a couple of years. That and being named the official Godmother (Godfather still pending, though she had her own preference) probably sparked the protective instincts. Jess was really good too despite her claims to the contrary.

"Could I hold her? Please?" Hope looked up with a full on pout and puppy dog eyes.

"Later. We gotta go visit your mom first."

"About your baby, right? I overheard mommy talking about it."

"Yeah. Who would've thunk it, our innocent little Gwen getting a baby. When's the wedding?" Kate grinned.

Gwen rolled her eyes and almost gave her the middle finger before remembering that Hope was nearby, "Not that kind of baby and you know it." Webster had been fussing all morning about their new Webster Junior (name still pending). She'd taken to motherhood really quick, "Anyway, I'm hoping Wasp knows something about this. She's kinda the expert."

"I'm sure mommy can help you!" Hope piped up.

She met up with Wasp and, after exchanging pleasantries and leaving Kate, Helena and Hope in the other room, she stripped out of (read: told Webster to get rid of) her clothes so sh could change into the patient gown, "Stylish. Really love the minimalist look." She stepped into the containment module and stood stock still as Wasp did a deep tissue scan. The wonders of modern technology.

It took just five minutes and soon enough she was sitting on a gurney while Wasp took some blood samples, "I must admit when you called me screaming that you were pregnant this is hardly what I expected."

"I was not  _screaming_..."

"Oh, I recorded it." Gwen's eyes widened as the older woman smirked and tapped her phone,  _"Janet! Jan, Jan, Jan! Holy shit, I'm fucking pregnant! Webster is pregnant! We're pregnant! I need help oh god help me help help me help-"_

"Okay, okay! So I might have panicked a bit!" Just a tad. It wasn't every day your radioactive symbiote partner told you that you were pregnant! "And hey, blame Webster! She was the one who got knocked up!"

Webster jutted out of her shoulder and 'glared' at her,  **"I've said before that's not how it works."**

"And yet you look guilty every time. Are you hiding something from me, little lady!"

**"I am not!"**

"Please stop arguing. It's bad for the baby." Wasp smirked. This time they both glared at her, 'Sorry, bad joke. Going back on topic, your symbiote is correct." She pulled down a screen and gestured to the scan results, "This baby is the result of what can best be equated to mitosis. Webster has split apart slowly but surely and this new offspring is the end result. There was no sexual reproduction."

"Wait, so do we know how it happened?"

"I can't be sure. Even now the inner workings of these symbiotes are an enigma, especially since there's only been two successful bonds." Three, but she didn't want to bring up Kasady at all, "It's quite possible that this is simply a normal part of a symbiote's development and lifespan. Do you recall anything else that might've caused this?" she asked Webster.

**"Nothing. We've been doing the exact same patrol and hero work for months."**

"That strengthens the lifespan hypothesis." Was nodded.

"Wait, wait. So does that mean this could happen again?" She was already freaking out about the first one! She didn't know if she could deal with a second!

"We can't be certain. As much as I hate the term, I think we'll have to use the wait and see approach." She sighed like the word actually pained her, "The good news is that we have confirmation that the baby itself is healthy...as much as it can be considering it's almost impossible to measure due to lacking things like a heartbeat. So long as you and Webster remain alive, it should be born with no complications."

"Yeah, about that...do we have any more details? Like am I gonna have to push a little blob out of my you know what or even a timeframe?"

"Timeframe is difficult to gauge since this is the first one of its kind. On the bright side observing this one should help any future birth scheduling." Why was she acting like a second one was guaranteed?! "As for the birthing process itself, you don't have to worry. Given the lack of stomach bloating, and indeed the lack of any change in your internal stomach lining, I think we can safely guarantee that any births will be akin to the mitosis. A quick split, if you will. 2 hours max, but likely far less than that."

"Great..." She really should've taken Peter with her. He was basically the dad...kinda...okay not really, but the thought was nice.

**"I'm excited."**  Webster said needlessly.

"Yeah, well, you're using your new kid as an excuse to pig out so of course you are." She rubbed Webster's head and she purred like a cat.

"If you start to feel off at all, then don't hesitate to visit me. I'll prep facilities to ensure it's comfortable." Jan smiled and squeezed her left shoulder reassuringly, "But for now we should move on to anothr topic. I'd like to do another physical examination on you. It's been 6 months since our last one and I'd like to chart the progress of your symbiosis."

She grabbed the earphone, "Sure." She knew better than to argue. Besides, she was curious herself.

Gwen stepped into the platform and took a deep breath as she was shrunk down to a couple of inches in height, "Feel like Alice in Wonderland." She took off the gown and let Webster form a sports bra, shorts, socks and sneakers as the 'city' formed around her. It was one of the new tech that Jan and Stark were working on. Miniature hardlight constructs. Good for anything from wanting a model city or a training ground for a shrunken superhero.

She tapped the earphone and looked around. Looked just like Queens, "Hey, I'm here. What do you wanna test first?" She started stretching in front of the glass building facsimile as her reflection stared back at her. She-Hulk's workout sessions from before had definitely paid off. While she wasn't Ronda Rousey, her lean muscles were far more defined and she looked like someone who spent a healthy amount of time at the gym.

"Let's try your jumping capability. Try jumping straight up from a standing position as hard as you can."

"Got it." She took a deep breath, lowered herself into a crouch and jumped. She was almost tempted to reach out and shoot a line of webbing. Instead she landed on the roof of one of the 'buildings', "How'd I do?"

"50 foot from a standing position; 5 feet more than the last test. I'm sure that number can improve dependent on adrenaline levels as well." She heard a few taps and a car appeared from where she just was, " Next try running side by side with the car. No webs."

"Your wish is my command."

The next hour was spent following Wasp's every instruction: running alongside cars, how many people she could take on at once, seeing how far she could spread her trackers, measuring how much she could lift (that one she had to grow back for) etc etc. All the results were the same; all better than the last. She'd outpaced the car, could track someone halfway across the city and lift a crashing jumbo jet.

Soon enough she was back to normal size and sitting at the gurney again, "Your symbiosis is deepening at an astonishing rate. Sooner or later you and Webster will be incapable of separating."

"Uh...but she can still go and let me have my  _private time_ , right?"

"Yes, of course." She gave a long-suffering sigh, "I mean that, similar to Ms. Watson, separation in the way this dimension's Ms. Moon did so prior would be much more difficult. On the off chance that somehow does succeed both you and Webster would die due to the trauma of separation."

"Real comforting there, Jan."

**"They did say till death do us part."**

"Okay, we need to stop letting you watch late night Webflicks." The symbiote stuck her tongue out (rude!) and slithered back into her shoulder, "Alright, so do you know how much longer before this full symbiosis thing?"

"Hmm, I'd say a year or two. Ms. Watson's condition was unique since it attached directly to her bloodstream and the symbiote didn't care to make the symbiosis go at a steady rate. Speaking of, how is she?"

"She's...okay." Gwen looked down and swung her legs awkwardly, "Actually...I'm not sure. Physically she's fine, but...she's been sneaking out at night and I think that she's...killing people." Such an odd thing to say. Everyone she knew killed people. She'd personally seen Kate shoot arrows through H.Y.D.R.A goon eyeballs and she was holding her baby sister right now, "Is the symbiote affecting her mind?"

"It's quite possible, though I doubt full on possession is likely." She changed the screen to Mary Jane's results, "Her last tests show that the symbiosis has stabilized heavily compared to before. The symbiote can still speak into her mind and nudge her, but it's no more potent than the nudge you get when, say, looking at a piece of pizza you shouldn't eat or the temptation to ignore homework due the next day."

"So what are you saying? That MJ...wants to kill people?" Even the thought of it made her sick.

"I'm saying that if you wish to get to the bottom of this, then you need to talk to Ms. Watson yourself. Medical scans can only tell us so much and you know her better than anyone."

"I guess..." She'd been putting it off long enough.

"Speaking of our 'side projects', have you given any thought to Sam's suggestion?"

Oh yes, Captain America's brilliant pitch: expose her identity on her own terms. She'd tried to sell it so hard and mentioned all the benefits and how much trust it would engender, but all Gwen could think about was someone rolling up to her house trying to take revenge.

Not that others hadn't already tried and seen how badly it could go. You wouldn't think it looking at her, but Hope had gotten kidnapped a scant few months ago. She couldn't even remember why those bastards did it. Maybe they wanted Dyne particles, maybe they wanted to blackmail her into something- hell, maybe they just wanted to prove that they could.

Didn't matter much in the end when she and She-Hulk leveled their main hiding spot after getting Hope out. No one tried after that. Most superheroes didn't take it personally when you tried to off em - all part of the job, grim as that was - but once you start hitting their families the hammer of Thor (not literally, though they did consider asking for his help) would come down from on high to smite you. One impersonal hero was a whole lot less trouble than six pissed off ones.

"As foolish as it sounds at first glance, I can see her point. Among all the Avengers only you and Cindy are still keeping your identities secret and it's beginning to cast an air of suspicion. We have countermeasures to ensure our loved ones remain safe, and I can't argue that controlling your unmasking will allow us to negate most of the possible negative repurcussions."

Yeah, she still remembered Kate's confession of how her father and sister called her non-stop to yell at her after the fight with Evil Cindy got her outed. Apparently she'd been forced to spend weeks under lock and key while various people investigated her dad's company. And then there was Peter. God, she still fucking hated Jameson for the manhunt and that shitstorm at the hospital.

"It's just...I dunno, Jan. I've always kept the two parts of my life a secret, you know? How can I go to college and be Gwen Stacy when everyone knows I can jump 50 feet in the air and outrun a speeding car?" She sighed, "I like being normal sometimes. I like waking up at home, meeting my dad and Jess and playing with Helena. I tell the world who I am and that's all over." And she couldn't bear the thought of anyone hurting them to get to her. Sure, most bad guys were smart enough to know better after Hope, but not all bad guys are smart.

"I also see your point, especially after my own incident with Hope," she replied, "In the end I can see benefits and drawbacks to both options. While the anonymity does have its own appeal, it makes it harder to balance between the two. Also, perhaps it's simply the cynic in me, but I believe that we can't keep hiding forever. Similar to Ms. Bishop and Mr. Parker, eventually a slip will come."

"Yeah..." Gwen shook her head," Look, I'll think about it, okay? Just gimme some time." Or a lot. Maybe a decade or two, "So..." She looked around to make sure they were alone before leaning in closer to whisper, "That mole I told you about? Any luck?"

"No." She frowned, "All my employees that could even have remote access to the particles are people I've vetted personally and known for years. I don't like the idea of any of them being bought or coerced. I'm trying to find any possible leaks, but it's slow going. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Anyone leaves prison I just put em back." She didn't need all those free weekends with Peter anyway, "Update me, okay?"

"Of course."

She shifted back into her casual wear and smiled when she saw Hope and Kate sitting on the couch with the former gingerly holding onto a sleeping Helena, "Hey, how was the testing? Baby all good?"

"Yep." She smiled and picked up the sleeping infant from Hope's arms, "...Hey, Kate, could I ask you something." She looked at her curiously and nodded, "Alright, well...if you had a choice, would you have kept your secret identity or exposed it on your own terms?"

"Keep it, but that's just me." The purple clad archer shrugged, "Not that I'm scared of the whole reprisal thing - pretty sure my dad and sis have bigger enemies than I do. It's just...I dunno, helps keep me balanced, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that." Point made: never admit your secret identity, Kate said so!

Hope looked between them and spoke up, "When I become a hero I won't wear a mask!" she declared proudly. Gwen laughed under her breath and refrained from telling her that it wouldn't exactly be hard to figure out who the new female Wasp was.

"You're braver than I am hope." A tentacle jutted from her shoulder and ruffled the younger girl's hair. She shrieked and then giggled, which was way better than how MJ reacted. Speaking of... "Hey...I actually gotta go do something for a bit. Could you watch Helena?"

"Sure. Godmom Kate and Waspling are on the case!" She grinned, "Catch ya later."

* * *

**HahaHoho:**  Got a feel on Spider-Woman's thighs when she saved me from falling off a bridge. Firm but pleasant. Needs to wear less, though. Show a little more skin, girl.

**Reply from FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman -** aaaand...blocked.

* * *

She said her goodbyes to the pair and called Mary Jane to a nearby cafe. The redhead had expressed some confusion considering that they'd just hung out a few hours prior but ultimately agreed. Gwen sat at the designated corner booth and took a deep breath. She'd talk to MJ about it now. No stalling, no covering her ears and pretending MJ would tell her on her own.

Mary Jane arrived after a few minutes, "Hey, Gwencent." Gwen handed her the strawberry shake, "Why'd you call? Miss me already?"

"We...We need to talk." Be firm, but gentle. Advice that was useful in a lot of contexts, "MJ...I know what you're doing."

"You mean the modeling gig? No shit, I told you about-"

"I know you're killing people."

To her credit, MJ didn't even attempt to deny it. The redhead bit her quivering lower lip and raised and lowered the straw of her drink in a rush. She looked ashamed, like Gwen had just aired out a dirty little secret for all to see, "...I know." She took a sip from her drink before shaking her head and pushing it away, "It wasn't like I've been keeping it a very good secret."

"Why are you doing it? Is it because of that symbiote?"

"Yes...and no. It's complicated." She let out a frustrated breath, "I made a deal with this thing. In exchange for cooperating and not trying to kill you anymore I agreed that I'd..."

"Kill people. Guilty people."

"Yeah..." She looked up to meet Gwen's eyes, "It'd be easy to blame this thing entirely, but I can't. I don't like being a serial killer-"

"That's not what you are."

"Let's be honest, Gwen." Now it was Gwen's turn to awkwardly sip her caramel frappe, "I don't feel proud of it, but these people...they're monsters and they got away with their crimes. How is it fair that they can rape and kill innocent people and they don't get punished? One guy drove his girlfriend to suicide after beating her and was targeting another. There was a woman who poisoned an entire family, even a baby, just because she wanted all their money. Should they have gotten away with it?"

"No, but-"

"I do feel guilty, Gwen. I've spent weeks not being able to sleep, but...I have helped people. There was a pimp who was selling  _12 year olds_..." Her hands clenched and Gwen made out a surge of red flesh across the skin, "I just...I don't want it to be  _all_  I am."

"Is that why you put on that costume?"

"Yeah..." She smiled bitterly, "Guess I thought for a second that I could be like you. I was being an idiot."

"You weren't." Gwen put both hands atop Mary Jane's right and squeezed it tightly, "I...I'm not gonna pretend I like this, but I've made my compromises." Peter came to mind immediately. He hadn't stopped killing people and she'd accepted that. Hell, she'd killed before. Those Skrulls and the Hydra goons at that nuclear base were self-defense, but a life taken was a life taken, "I just...I trust you, MJ. Anyone else in your position and they might've turned into a monster like Kasady. You  _can_  be a hero. You were last night."

"You seriously think that?"

"I do." Gwen nodded firmly, "Look, I can show that there are other ways. We can...wean you off." Even saying it out loud didn't help. Wean her off killing people? She hadn't succeeded with Peter either.

"Wean me off being a serial killer? Sure, cause that worked out so well last time." Her laugh was bitter, though far less so than before, "...But fine, we'll do it your way. Who better to teach me than Spider-Gwen herself?"

"Okay. Let's go."

"Wait,  _now?_ "

"No time like the present."

* * *

**FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:** I'd like to introduce everyone to  **ScarletSpider**. She's pretty new at the biz and I've taken her under my wing. She can do a lot of good for this city.

**Reply from HohoHaha:** Now we just need Spinerette in and it'll be a threesome. **#spidersgonewild**

**Reply from FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:** Coulda swore I blocked you...

**Reply from EPFrog:** Wait, you're taking students now? Could I go with?

**Reply from** **FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:** Nope, sorry. She's a special case.

**Reply from NurplePerple:**  LOL,  _rejected_. Better luck next time, frog dude.

**Reply from StrikerNotBombshell:** This is gonna end well...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Cindy dealing with more Spider-Cop shenanigans and Lana trying to have a normal day of school while looking up research on psychic Mexican girls with no records anywhere.
> 
> Apologies for the first segment being so...off. It's why I asked before if I should hold off on focusing so much on the supernatural aspects of Noir's segments. I'll try to focus on some more street crime level stuff, as indicated by Noir getting a text from Cindy about the Maggia. That's assuming he survives Bullseye stabbing him in the back, of course.
> 
> Oh, and Gwen's dealing with pregnancy news and the possibility of having to out her identity so she can keep functioning. Will she take it? Definitely not, but it won't stop Cap and She-Hulk from trying to convince her.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. What do you guys honestly think of Eugene? I've gotten both like and dislike for him and I'm wondering what the ultimate opinion on him is since I'm trying to decide whether to give him more focus segments.
> 
> 2\. I've been getting comments on it, but do you guys really want Noir to get a second power-up so he can webswing and wall-crawl? It seems like the power disparity between the leads is cropping up again and I thought that Noir having more varied stuff like the hellfire knife, gadgets and bike acted as a sufficient counter to Gwen being restricted to just webs and melee.
> 
> 3\. Alright, let's do this one last time. Three choices now for MJ: threesome with Peter and Gwen; pair off with Matt or Felicia; or just stay alone because she's not in the right place currently. If you have an opinion pick one and I'll count them up so we can get a final plan.


	14. Spider-Cop and Bombshell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so current votes so far:
> 
> Peter retains powers vs Peter gets upgrades: 10 vs 12 with upgrades in the lead. Of course, people have varying definitions of upgrades - some just want wall-crawling and webswinging,others are fine without and just want him to have better gadgets other than the Hellfire knife, and of course those who just want better stealth (even though he can turn invisible already?), so it's not really a total win. Have to think about it.
> 
> Mary Jane threesome vs Mary Jane with Felicia or Matt vs Mary Jane alone: 13 vs 13 vs 8. Holy crap, we actually have a tie between threesome and Mary Jane solo romance :/ This is the Matt v. Gwen roommate vote all over again. Guess this one will come down to either a coinflip or more votes.
> 
> Also, people don't like Frog-Man :( Oh well, it's to be expected. And yes, in case anyone missed it, Daimon in this fic is a giant reference to V and Devil May Cry 5. Wasn't exactly being subtle, especially with using V's combat lines.
> 
> Anyway, these are everyone's tweeter names since I'll be making more of those segments:
> 
> Gwen - FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman
> 
> Mary Jane - ScarletSpider
> 
> Lana - StrikerNotBombshell
> 
> Eugene - EPFrog
> 
> Cindy - Spinerette (changed to SpiderCop later)
> 
> Peter - SpiderWomanMadeMeDoThis (changed to DarkSpider later at Lana's request, cause Noir can never say no to her except for what she wants most).
> 
> Norah - IKnowSupersAndICantTell
> 
> Gayle Watson - No1SpiderWomanFan

Cindy was late.

"You're late," Masters said with that smug smile of his. Cindy didn't bother to bite something back and just shoved past him a little rougher than he was expecting. She would've been lying if she said the sight of him almost falling flat on his ass didn't make her smile, "Oof, someone's in a bad mood. What's wrong, itsy bitsy? Still reelin' from your screw-up last night?"

"Screw up?" She looked back and scowled at him.

"Yeah. You know we had to clean up the mess you and your buddies left? Couldn't even clean up after yourself, huh? Not even with those fancy guns of yours?" He gave a pointed glance to the two S.H.I.E.L.D issue pistols on her shoulder holsters. It was one of the few things she managed to keep from her time with them. It was definitely more useful than the standard issue glocks and revolvers the other officers hard.

"Aww, jealous that I have betters toys than you?" She sneered, which was sadly hidden by her scarf.

"Don't need em. See, us actual cops? We don't need laser guns or your freak buddies to help people. 'f I was there last night-

"Cut the shit, Masters." Cindy  _wished_  she'd been the one to say that, but once again it was Jean coming to the rescue. The older woman shoved Master's away, "You just found out about last night after seeing it on youwebs an hour ago, so don't act all high and mighty. And what did Captain Watanabe tell you about pissing off our on loan Mask expert? You really wanna piss her off and deal with Rhino on your own? Cause I'm sure she can work something out."

Masters muttered something unintelligible under his breath and stalked off. It wasn't surprising. Cindy had her hands tied and had to make a good impression. Jean, on the other hand, had given another cop a wedgie when he told her to 'unbunch her boxer briefs' over a year ago. Cindy had no idea how she got away with that, but she wasn't curious enough to question it.

"Thanks for that..." Cindy sighed. Masters knew she couldn't fight back, least not without alienating herself even more. Her job was hard enough as it was; she didn't need the other cops outright shunning her instead of just being awkward. Masters might have been an asshole, but he was one of them and she wasn't. It wasn't a fight she could win.

"No problem. That guy's a prick," she said, just loud enough for him (and everyone around him) to hear. She leaned in closer and whispered, "Hey, could we go somewhere private? I need to talk to you about something."

Cindy nodded and they made their way to her 'office'. As crappy as it was the glass was still one way and the room was still soundproof, so she didn't have to worry. As soon as she locked the door she lowered her scarf and sighed. It never stopped being weird going to work in full costume. This was so different from the time she agreed to attend that cosplay convention.

"Guessing this is about your side job?" Cindy asked. It never ceased to amaze her just how varied some of the backgrounds of the vigilantes she encountered were. Case in point Detective Jean De Wolf, who decided that apparently she thought breaking the law in order to serve it was a price she was all too happy to pay. Considering she tended to target the Maggia and their shark lawyers she probably had a point

So far she hadn't killed anyone, at least. Not that Cindy would've held it against her; she'd done too much and had too many off-color friends to make that call.

"Mostly." Jean tossed her a burner phone, "Got that from a Maggia goon by the name of Vito Scaletta. They're planning something, and I think it has something to do with that human trafficking bust those two kids busted." She frowned slightly at that. She made it clear she didn't like teenagers getting involved. Frank Castle might've been a former cop turned vigilante, but at least he was legal age.

"How so?"

"Ol' Vito's name popped up on that anonymous USB we got. But of course he had an alibi the night of the incident and when we got the warrant for his house there was nothing there. After some...persuasion I managed to pry something out of him." Meaning fear gas, cause apparently Scarecrow was making a killing outside of Gotham, "Apparently the Maggia have been in contact with a new player in town-"

"Lemme guess, guy going by the name of Scorpion?"

"Bingo." Cindy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She  _knew_  she shouldn't have taken that deal, "Apparently he's a real up and comer and making some waves by dealing with the Mauchio family. Vito's boss thinks he can use Scorpy to try and depose the other families."

"Odd. I thought la cosa nostra kept business in-house?"

"They did, but the mob's been losing ground for years now. Supervillains are all the rage these days." Right, she'd heard something about that. Cindy still couldn't believe that some people had the gall to complain that the mob was the good old days. Apparently cement shoes and murdered families were somehow better just cause a guy in a pinstriped suit was doing it.

"Right, I'll text Pete about it later." De Wolfe frowned again, "Hey, I know you have issues with him but he knows these guys better than I do. Besides, I don't think you have room to throw stones Ms. Purple Bondage Queen."

"That's even worse than Wraith." She scoffed, "Speaking of secret identities, we really should talk about yours."

"For the last time, I'm not calling myself Spider-Cop no matter how many times-"

"Not that! And I never told you to do that!" She totally did. Granted she was drunk at the time but Cindy still counted it, "Just listen. Masters started shit with you in front of everyone and no one stepped up to help you but me. You know why that is?"

"Because you're a badass with a heart of gold?" She asked, looking at the older woman with faux-starstruck eyes.

De Wolfe smirked despite her best efforts to the contrary, "Yes, but also because Masters knows one thing: you're not a cop, and as much of an asshole as he is he's known some of these guys for years. That means something."

"I  _know_  that. You think S.H.I.E.L.D was singing around a campfire for me? They didn't like the Superhero muscling in on their territory either." Nevermind that she did every assignment to her admirably. That just pissed them off even more.

"Exactly. Superhero, cause that's all you are to them." She grabbed the scarf from Cindy's neck, "None of them knew you, not really. Doubt you wore this back then, but did you even try to make friends with those agents?" Cindy kept quiet because she really didn't. Woo just soiled her to everyone except Daisy, Natasha and a few others, "That's the issue here. You don't go out to drink, don't talk about families, nothing. You're just Spinerette."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Cindy snatched her scarf back.

"It's not, but it  _is_  the reason your life's more difficult than it needs to be." Jean crossed her arms, "In this entire precint I'm the only one who knows who you are."

"Yeah, because I found out from Spider-Woman about your side-job and I felt guilty. Tit for tat." That and she figured it'd be better if she could cover for De Wolfe. Despite her solemn vows that every outing would be her last she always had a knack for coming back to the purple streamers, "The other cops aren't vigilantes on the side, last I checked."

"Why do they have to be?" De Wolfe countered, "Look, I get it if you're trying to keep your face hidden because you don't want your family hurt, but that excuse ain't gonna fly for them. They go out every day and a lot of them - even Masters - got threats. And they buckled down and kept going. Hiding behind a scarf's the last thing that's gonna get their respect."

"So what, you want me to have my coming out story here?" Cindy snarked back.

"I'm suggesting it's a possibility. If you wanna keep your family safe I understand." She didn't actually worry about that. Her evil twin had cut off contact from her family for so many years that no one even realized she had any family. Even then S.H.I.E.L.D made sure that, as far as the files were concerned, the Moon family just had the crappy luck to share a last name with that psychopath. It wasn't hard; there were a bunch of Moons in the city.

Cindy licked her lips and looked down. Cap  _had_  suggested doing a 'controlled identity exposure' and she didn't really have to worry too much about backlash: 'her' family was insured and just about everyone she knew either had enemies of their own or they could take care of themselves. Anyone that tried to kidnap her ki- er, Laura would be in for a hell of a surprise.

"Okay."

"I'll understand if you-" De Wolfe paused to just look at her, "Wait, what'd you say?"

"I said okay." She tossed the scarf at her desk, "For the record I doubt it'll help, but I'm really freaking tired of doing paperwork and making coffee runs with a scarf on my face. I feel like a kid playing bandito." Not to mention people stared at her on the lineup to Starkbucks and no, she refused to cut even if Tony Stark allowed it. She'd done a lot of horrible things, but that was sacred.

"Right...well, that was easier than I thought it'd be." Jean shrugged, "So do we gather everyone up or-"

"Don't bother. We're going to have a briefing in about 10 minutes. I'll just go in and treat it like normal. If anyone asks I'll answer, but  _hopefully_  everyone here's professional enough to focus on work instead of losing their crap like Spider-Woman's fans." She never really saw the appeal of being popular. Screw those guys who thought she was jealous of Gwen's 'superior influence'. If it meant less spam and cheap pornos made of her Gwen could keep that 'superiority'.

15 minutes later (fuck paperwork) and she was making her way to the briefing/break (they  _really_  didn't have much funding) room. As soon as she opened the door the cops who were up for the briefing after her's stopped and  _stared_. Cindy very much tried not to feel like the girl from one of those high school coming of age films and just shuffled- er,  _strode confidently_  to her seat.

 _Of course_  Masters was the first one to see her, "Hey, who brought their kid here? This is a briefing room, not a high school!" He said loudly. For a second she thought he was making another insult before remembering she'd shucked off her jacket and holsters because of the heat (air-conditioning was busted). Did he seriously not recognize her? Ha, Gwen could take her comments about her scarf and suck it!

"Nice to see you too, Masters." She sat next to him (it was the only seat available) and crossed her arms. Masters' eyes narrowed in confusion before they suddenly widened like she'd punched him in the crotch, "What're you staring at?"

"You..forgot your scarf or somethin'?" Oh, she wished she had a camera for this.

"No, why?"

He didn't get a chance to respond before Captain Watanabe took their attention, "Alright people, focus. This is a police station, not a classroom." If she cared at all about Cindy's sudden lack of a mask (scarf) then she didn't show it. Always focused on the job, that one.

"I should start." Jean stood up and activated the power point, "We've been getting a rash of robberies from someone who witnesses claim 'flew in like a bird'." The slide showed a silhouette with large wings on their arms flying away from an Oscorp tech lab, "The sightings match the description of Adrian Toomes, alias Vulture, but considering he's in the morgue, I doubt it's him."

"Think he sold his tech to someone before Spider-Man offed him?" Ben Grimm asked. Big guy, total sweetheart, happily married with two adorable twin boys whose picture he kept on his desk. She liked him, though that was at least partly cause he was the ever-loving blue eyed Thing back home. It was nice to know that being nice transcended dimensions sometimes.

"Possible, but unlikely. Toomes' psyche profile before his death indicated someone extremely possessive of his wings and he only 'shared' with those children he 'adopted'. I'm still following up on this with a couple of witnesses."

"Who was present at the lab at the time?"

"A Dr. Elsa Brock and the owner of Oscorp, Harry Osborn."

Gobby...of course he'd be involved with it. To be perfectly fair to the guy she didn't hate him anymore. With the Lizard cured and him finally deciding to quit his vigilante redemption quest he'd actually been doing good. Last she checked he went back to working for his dad - and swallowing his pride doing so - and he was doing well. He and Gwen still hung out sometimes.

"Something to say, Spinerette?" Captain Watanabe asked.

"It's Cindy, actually. Cindy Moon." Technically Cindy Miller on her ID, but tomayto tomatoe. She didn't actually own her condo either; according to the records the owner was an old Chinese woman who lived in Denver who didn't actually exist.

"Cindy Moon? Ain't that the name of the terrorist you guys stopped?" Ben squinted and looked closer, "You look kinda alike too."

"Yeah, well, I'm her from another dimension." Masters immediately snorted, "Something to say, Masters?"

"Another dimension? You expect us to believe that crap?"

"Right, cause it's  _so_  much more insane than believing aliens and demons exist-  _oh wait_." She gave him a flat, mocking look while his face reddened in anger, "It's the truth, but frankly I don't give a crap if you don't believe me."

"Haven't you read a single Captain America book? Alternate dimensions exist, pal," Ben said. She threw him an appreciative nod and he smiled back.

"Fine, she's from another dimension. But then how do we know we can trust her? She's some kind of copy of a fucking terrorist!"

"Ignoring the fact that I helped  _stop her_ , you mean?" Cindy snarled back, the scars peeking through her short sleeved shirt, "Like Ben said, read a Captain America comic. The same people can be completely different across dimensions. For example, I'm pretty sure that there's at least one world out there where you aren't a raging dickhead with daddy issues."

"You fucking bit-"

"Enough!" Captain Watanabe shouted. Everyone immediately shut up, "Moon, I understand your apprehension but I'd appreciate it if you didn't cuss out one of my officers. Do I make myself clear?" Cindy nodded and grit her teeth.

"Thank you, Captain-"

"You're on thin ice too, Masters." She threw him a glare, "I've warned you multiple times to avoid antagonizing her and you've failed to comply. Do you really want to take over her cases?" Masters shrunk into his seat like a reprimanded teenager, "That's what I thought. Now, I don't want to hear you antagonizing her in the workplace any longer. I hear another incident like this and you'll be suspended. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Captain..." Masters glared at her and she smiled back smarmily.

"Good. Now, you were saying, Moon?"

"Right. Well, I was actually going to say that I know one of the witnesses. Harry Osborn's an old...acquaintance." He wasn't a  _friend_ , even if they did have their benefits, "Permission to go with Jean? He might be more willing to talk to me than someone he doesn't know."

"Granted. What about your own cases?"

"Working on it." She took Jean's place and booted up her own powerpoint, "We've recently gotten evidence that the Matthews case is linked to a human trafficking ring smuggling in those who were present when the Terrigen Mist came down on New York. The people at the hospital were there to kidnap one of the victims identified only as Aracely."

"And where is this girl now?" Wilson Allan asked. He was an older guy, at least past 50, and a little more on the heavyset side with a bald head and a thick mustache. She didn't know much else about him apart from the fact that he had a teenage daughter.

"I put her in one of my safehouses." Technically not a lie. She  _did_  have a few other safehouses around the city (pretty sure she was sharing one with Moon Knight, actually) and her apartment technically counted, "Given the circumstances of what happened the night prior, I thought it'd be safer than putting her in a public area and having a repeat."

"I don't wholly disagree, but next time please run it by me," Captain Watanabe said. Cindy refrained from telling her she wasn't actually her boss and her Avengers credentials trumped the police's, "Did you get a chance to interrogate these mercenaries?"

"Not formally, but 'Pyro' did mention that they worked through intermediaries. I'll do it later after we interview Go- uh, Mr. Osborn."

The rest of the assembled cops completed their own assigned work and everyone pitched in when possible. Masters was actually pretty helpful sometimes, which was probably the reason he hadn't gotten fired yet. Still, she did pity the guy who was assigned to bust Bodega Bandit and his Banditos. Apparently even Gwen decided he wasn't worth her time.

She was barely out of the room and chatting with Jean when Masters came up to her, "Fr-  _Moon_ ," he said through gritted teeth. Cindy raised her brow and waited for him to continue, "Captain Watanabe insisted that we learn to work together so I came here to...apologize." Wow, she'd never seen someone look so sick before; and she helped She-Hulk and Gwen evacuate those people from that nuclear plant meltdown. Radiation resistance had its benefits.

"Okay then, I'm waiting."

"What? That's it, I apologized-"

"No, you didn't, but to be honest I don't really care about your half-assed apology." She pushed past him and kept smiling all the way down to Jean's squad car - after taking her jacket and holster back, of course.

"You were right, talking crap to his face is  _much_  better."

"Not what I said, but okay." Jean buckled in her seatbelt, "You know Captain Watanabe's gonna lecture you about being the bigger woman."

"I should probably remind her that she's not actually my boss and that's the only reason I'm not suing for workplace harassment." She did actually like Captain Watanabe. Nice to see a professional, "You know I could just swing us over there. Probably faster than this clunker." Seriously, how old was this thing? It was probably older than Peter was.

"Yeah, I wanna keep my breakfast inside, thanks."

"Your loss."

* * *

 **BestCopInNYC:** So...Spinerette just revealed her identity, I think?

 **Reply from InfinityMobius:** Oh great, another one of these. Lemme guess, she has mandibles like Kitana from Immortal Konflict?

 **Reply from BestCopInNYC:** No. Actually, she was...really young. I have a daughter her age...I think. She looked 18.

 **Reply from FactChannelIntern:** Spinerette said she was 28 last year, so she should be 29 now.

 **Reply from AlsoTheBestCopInNYC:** Can confirm since I was there (hey Alex!). Yeah, she looks really young for someone pushing 30. Think she lied about her age?

 **SpaghettiInMahPockets:** Her update a few months ago said she was drinking vodka for the first time...actually, that was literally her last update. Thought she died from alcohol poisoning :0

 **Peralta99: -embedded image-** Hey, I managed to snag a pic of her. Sexy scars, right?

 **CapeChaser11:** Holy crap, she  _is_  young! She's like a baby!

 **VampyrSlayer** : Think I could ask her out? I'm on the next precinct over.

 **TruthShallSetYouFree:**  Still think it's fake.

 **Spinerette:**  It's real, and I'm going to tell Amy about the nudes you have of her,  **Peralta99**. I'm glad to know that being 29 means I still count as a baby, by the way. Also, yes,  **VampyrSlayer** , I will go on a date with you ;)

 **Peralta99:**  Oh come on!

 **VampyrSlayer:**  Score!

 **EPFrog:**  Lucky...

 **FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:**  Thanks for the heads up, Cin... :/

 **StrikerNotBombshell:**  Hey at least she revealed it on her own. Some of us didn't get that chance.

* * *

Lana hated it when people pointed. Especially when they were pointing at her.

The brunette groaned softly as the bruises in her face throbbed. Unlike everyone else in their rag-tag group she didn't have the benefit of healing insanely fast. Which of course meant that when she came to class looking like a cheap hooker beat up by her pimp who had mommy issues (hey, she was entitled to make those jokes) people wouldn't. stop. pointing.

She scratched at her bandaged cheek and growled under her breath. She'd been lucky enough to keep both eyes and not lose any of her teeth, but that didn't make the bruises any less sore. The painkillers she got from Cin helped.

"Mmgh." She turned to the next page of her notebook and continued to write down her math notes. Contrary to the norm, Lana actually liked Math. She'd always had a good memory and it was just remembering equations and when to use them. Definitely easier than History or English lit. Long, boring essays were the fucking worst and way too 'subjective'. Least Math was just right or wrong.

Her thoughts drifted back to Aracely. She couldn't even imagine - okay, she  _could_ , but whatever - having such a crappy couple of days. Being trapped in a cargo container, waking up with the threat of being deported and then having those fucking chuckleheads try to kidnap her. And all of that when you didn't even remember anything but your first name.

"Ugh, why does she have to go to class like  _that?_ " someone behind her whispered.

"I  _know!_  It's so embarrassing!"

Lana pressed her lips into a thin line - ow, ow, ow! - and said nothing. What was the point? They didn't like her here and, hey, she didn't like being here either. Good thing these prissy witches didn't have the balls to say shit to her face. Unlike Midtown High the girls here didn't wanna risk pissing off someone who could wreck their plastic surgeries and boob jobs.

Class finished eventually and Lana breathed a sigh of relief at the lunch bell. She and Anya didn't share lunch, so that meant sitting alone in the corner and glaring at all the normies.

"Lana!"

Or maybe not.

The brunette's bruised face lit up in a smile when she saw her, "Lily!" She accepted the hug and she laughed, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard that you got in trouble last night so I thought I'd visit." She flashed the visitor's badge with a grin, "That and I thought I'd visit my alumni. Is Mrs. Rosenberg still-"

"Yep, still playing favorites. Come on, let's eat. I'm starving."

5 minutes later and the two were sitting while a few of the other students pointed (ugh) and whispered. Some of them still didn't believe she was the 'esteemed' mayor's (bastard) daughter, "So, how's the fashon scene?" Lana spooned some of the pasta into her mouth. At least the school had fancy, world class chefs, "I heard you were working with that Agreste guy?"

"Oh, that fell through. Your brand kinda falls apart when people find out you're a Supervillain." Huh, maybe she heard something about that? Pete said something about ripping off some butterfly dude's mask and throwing him off the Eiffel tower, "I'm actually working with a local brand now. Wont be as big, but at least it means I can stay here."

"Yeah, stay in the Supervillain central of the world. Lucky you."

"It's also where my badass little sister is, so I'll take it." Lana rolled her eyes. Lily thought all those years apart meant she had to make-up by being the 'cool big sis', "So, are you okay? Your..." She gestured to her face.

"Yeah. Trust me, you should see the other guy." She didn't know Jane had such a vicious streak. If the guy didn't punch her face in she might've actually felt sorry for him, "...Actually, it's not me I'm worried about."

"Tell me."

She did. She didn't worry about being overheard - none of these pampered witches would do anything even if she confessed. Lily just sat and listened with only the occasional comment to show she was still listening.

"I dunno what to do. I mean, we can't keep her at Cin's place forever." And she still didn't know what to do about the deportation thing. Unless they magically found some papers proving she was a US citizen this wasn't going to end well.

"I could house her if you want?"

"Nah, I don't want William knowing about her." Especially considering her 'quirks'. Something told her Lily wouldn't take it well when she started floating off the bed, "It's fine. I'll handle this; I always do."

They talked until lunch ended Lana made her way to the library for study hall. Another good thing about this place: decent wi-fi. Lana logged into her account and brought up multiple Giigle pages.

"Alright, let's see if we can get something..." She typed in Aracely's name. The first name to come up was some Mexican actress she'd never heard of who looked just a bit too middle aged. A few more links led to some headbook pages and, bizarrely, one off-brand of race car, "Come on..." There had to be something. The girl had to have existed before she got shoved into damn damn crate.

She tried a reverse image search from her phone, but again no dice. Girl had no footprint, digital or otherwise.

"Fuck..." She leaned back on her chair and groaned. Would she really have to go to William? Or would Cin get her buddies to make a fake ID for her? The latter option definitely sounded better for her, but she wasn't sure if it wouldn't have its own drawbacks. Sighing, she went to the youwebs to try and take her mind off it for a bit. She loaded up the front page and raised an eyebrow when she saw one of the recommended vids.

"Spider-Man: Into the mind of a vigilante?" It wasn't shocking, exactly. Even before the Initiative came out there were wannabe psychologists and 'experts' who thought they knew what made the Masks and Freaks - cause fuck that political correct bullshit - tick. They were mostly wrong, but it was always good for a laugh. One of her favorites was when one doctor claimed Spider-Gwen was a hero because 'she was born into privelege and feels a sense of nobless oblige to help her fellow man'.

Lana snorted. Stacy wouldn't know 'nobless oblige' if it bit her in that big ass of hers.

_"But Spider-Man is one individual who's really drawn my attention. Other Gifted individuals receive benefits for their heroism whether it be adoration, fame or even just cold hard cash. I don't doubt their nobility, of course. My daughter's a very big fan of the Avengers and I'm grateful they helped us when it came to crises such as the Skrull Invasion or HYDRA."_

Oh, she remembered those fucking green men. She was working with MVP and Anya when they dropped that fucking Godzilla monster on the city. Thankfully Spider-Gwen stopped it, though she  _did_  nearly land on her. She really didn't want to end her hero career to end by by a buttstain.

 _"Which brings us back to Spider-Man; and others like him such as the enigmatic Moon Knight or this new Devil of Hell's Kitchen."_  Aka Matt Murdock the douchebag, _"Despite my initial trepidation I do believe they wish to help people. My only doubt comes from the fact that their methods are obscene. The number they've killed is innumberable."_ Nope, unless you counted the ninjas who were basically braindead anyway,  _And those that they do leave alive are left in mangled states."_

And then it went on and on and on. If they were heroes why did they have to kill people? If they were heroes why didn't they join the Initiative? And so on and so forth. Lana only half paid attention and clicked on another link. Another armchair psychologist trying to 'delve into the superhero oxymoron'.

 _"Now I'm not saying the heroes haven't done good."_ Why did they always start off with that? It was basically saying 'With all due respect, kiss my ass',  _"But we can't deny that these Gifted individuals have escalated a conflict that in no way needed escalation. The same way the creation of firearms revolutionized warfare, the Superheroes' existence led to the creation of the criminals they stopped."_

Lana rolled her eyes. Right, cause Captain America was responsible for H.Y.D.R.A, right? Pete was probably responsible for the Hand too if they followed that logic. People found a way to nitpick fucking everything. You find the cure for cancer and people would bitch that it made their tongue dry. Everyone just wanted everything on a silver fucking platter and even then they'd still find someone to blame for something.

5 minutes of free period left. She checked tweeter and raised an eyebrow. Jane just became Spider-Gwen's sidekick and Cin apparently decided an identity reveal was in order. Great, no one ever told her anything. She left a couple of comments before shutting off the computer and rubbing her eyes. She was exhausted, but she knew she needed to do a couple of hours patrol after work at least. Wouldn't do to be lazy.

Class passed by surprisingly quick after that. Lana and Anya met up at their dorm room and she immediately began changing into her suit, "Sure you don't wanna come?" Lana asked as she put on her longcoat.

"Can't. Scholarship means I need every little percent and that means extra credit." She raised her stacks of math extras and groaned.

"Hang in there. I'll tutor you when I get back." She ruffled Anya's hair as she passed and put on her domino mask when she got to the window. Anya muttered something in Spanish under her breath and Lana jumped, propelling herself upwards. The school actually accommodated her hero work and gave her a window that led to the parking lot. Well, that and no one else wanted it.

It was actually a pretty slow day today. She ran into a few other Initiative graduates (and Frog boy) but didn't bother to team up. She'd only be in it for a couple of hours and she didn't really see the point.

The sun was just coming down when she yawned and sat on the edge of a low building. She sipped her corner store soda and tapped Pete's number to call him. No answer, "Huh, must be busy..." Not surprising. He was probably fighting a buncha demon vampire zombies or something. She yawned again and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. Note to self: don't trick booze on a school night.

Her self-pity was cut off when she saw a van screeching down a road being chased by the cops, "One more..." She stood up and propelled herself ahead. She landed briefly on the ground and jumped again just as the police car careened and smacked into lamppost, "Hope they're alright." She'd check on them later. Had to stop the road ragers first before they ran over someone.

She landed on the roof of the van and knocked on the surface, "Hey, you passed a red light!" ...She really needed to work on her banter. The van swerved to the side and she almost fell entirely before she punched through the metal to create a makeshift handhold. Thank god for explosive fists.

The door opened and a guy popped out waving a machinegun. She recognized the tags on his jacket immediately: Serpent Skull. She'd ran into them more than a few times. Small time thugs who worked for bigger groups. The guy aimed for her and she immediately shot his chest. He flew off the back of the van and and landed on the road with a painful crack. That'd hurt in the morning.

Bullets whizzed past underneath her. She rolled off the right side of the red death trap and hung off the edge, "You missed, assholes!" She shimmied to the back door and punched a woman who went out to check. She joined her buddy in the ground soon after and Lana jumped inside.

Barrels. The inside was filled to the brim with white barrels, "The fuck?!" The prick at the passenger screamed and started firing a fucking  _shotgun_ at her. Lana ducked underneath the barrels and the the pellets punctured through the plastic. Reddish pink gas immediately seeped out through the holes and covered the entirety of the van till she couldn't see anything.

"You pierced the canisters! We have to-"

Lana propelled herself forward and kicked them both the drive and the passenger out before slamming on the brakes. She made sure the van had come to a complete stop before she finally stumbled out coughing, "Fuck..." She coughed harder and looked around her. Civilians, but none of them were hurt. Small victories. She looked back at the van and cringed at the gas slowly seeping out.

She was pretty sure she'd seen it before: Terrigen Mist. She wasn't in the part of the town that'd been affected before. At least she knew it'd be harmless...well, mostly. Wouldn't kill you at least.

She only managed a couple more steps before her body froze up, "Wh-What?" She looked down at her hands and gasped when blue started covering her entire body. What the fuck? She'd seen it before. The cocoons people got into before they woke up with powers.  _But she already had powers,_  the loud part of her mind screamed just before everything went black.

* * *

 **ButterflyTornado:** Yo, Terrigen Mist spill between 1st and 3rd Wilson avenue! Anyone who wants powers get in on this!

 **BirdMania:**  And get powers like your shit turning white? No thanks. I'll stay human.

 **FarOut: -embedded image-** Yo, Bombshell just got cocooned! Badass!

 **IllegalBlonde:** WTF?! She already has powers! Some people get all the luck...

* * *

Lana didn't know how long she was unconscious, but as soon as she saw light she struggled and punched. Her fists hit something hard and she punched harder till she heard a large crack.

Lana fell out off the crystal cocoon and landed on the ground on all fours. She gasped and grasped her face desperately to make sure everything was still there. Both eyes, her nose, her mouth...all there. Arms and legs were there too. She looked around frantically and still found civilians either gaping or taking pictures with a few even jumping close to the van and breathing in the mist. She wasn't unconscious for long.

She stumbled to a nearby shop and checked on her reflection. No change at all, just regular old Striker.

Except for her hands.

Lana looked down at her shaking palms. The rings of light were gone, replaced by glowing arcs of energy surged from her palms and wrists all the way up the length of her arm. It didn't hurt, it just felt...weird. She already had powers, so why the fuck did that thing do anything to her? More importantly, what did it do to her? She was already a reusable suicide bomber.

Screams from behind drew her attention again. Lana looked back and growled softly when she saw two more Serpent Skull goons wearing gasp masks trying to jack the van, "Hey!" She raised a hand to blast them before another coughing fit forced her to the ground. Damn mist. Whoever made this thing she'd love to give them a kick right up their assholes.

She was so busy coughing she didn't notice the pistol aimed right for her before the bullet was right at her shoulder.

Lana screamed...for a couple of seconds. The bulled ripped through didn't go through - _thank you_ , Melvin Potter - but it still should have hurt more. She looked down at her elbow and gaped when white energy seeped through the fabric before suddenly dying away. It didn't hurt anymore.

"What the fuck?!" The gunman screamed. Three more shots, each of them hitting her in the mid-section. Again the pain only lasted for only a couple of seconds before the energy stopped shining and she was back.

That was...useful.

Lana tried to run ahead; emphasis on tried. As soon as she made to rush towards the van she  _surged_  forward like a kid on skates and ended up bumping against the bullet-ridden side of it facefirst, "Agh, fuck!" She ended up flat on her back on the ground...and the thug, who looked just as surprised as she was, aiming a gun at her face, "...Shit."

She reached a hand out to blast him. It worked, but not in the way she wanted. A wave of energy rushed out of her palm and the guy was blown back through the air...and stayed there. The masked bastard stumbled like a drowning man and when she did finally manage to blast him with a (much smaller than she intended) explosion the guy  _flew_ and smacked against the wall of a nearby building.

That was new.

She pushed herself up and made to stop the driver only to find a shotgun aimed at her face, "Better luck next time, Baumgartner." She knew that voice. Lana barely managed a curse before Diamondback pulled the trigger and everything went black again.

Lana woke up to someone shaking her shoulder, "Striker, are you okay?!" She squeezed her eyes shut briefly before suddenly forcing them open. The sudden brightness blinded her for a few seconds before it was replaced by Frog boy's (still broken) mask, "Oh, thank god." His head sagged in relief and she looked past him to find, as expected, the van missing and that bitch Diamondback nowhere in sight.

Fuck.

"H...How long was I out?" Better question: how the fuck was she still alive? She was pretty sure she wasn't bulletproof like Spider-Gwen and Jane were. Her head should've been salsa after eating a shotgun point blank, "You see a red van full of bulletholes?"

"You were out for a few minutes. A-And yeah, it went that way." He pointed to the right, "Dunno where it went after that, though. I wanted to check on you."

"Huh...well, thanks." She smiled at him briefly before pulling herself up into a shaky stand. She almost tripped a couple of seconds in before Frog boy helped balance her, "...Why do you smell like tacos."

"I was, uh, taking a break when I heard the commotion."

"Shit, now I'm hungry for tacos." She shook her head to try and stave off the dizziness and licked her dry lips, "Fuck, my fucking head's killing me..." Despite her complaints she knew she was lucky. She'd take a migraine over not having a head.

"Y-Yeah, I saw what that villain did to you." Frog boy said, "Um...I didn't know you could heal from bullets that fast."

"Me either." The mist was gone. Good riddance, "I took a facefull of that Terrigen Mist thing. It...did something to me."

"W-Woah, that must mean you're one of the Gifted. I mean, you already were, but-"

"Could you stop talking please? Words hurt..."

And just like they always were, the police arrived way too late. Lana cringed at the loud siren as two police officers stepped out of the car. The driver, an older guy built like a rock, surveyed the scene with a frown while the younger one cursed under his breath, "The hell happened here?" Officer Brick asked.

"Serpent Skulls were carrying barrels of that Terrigen Mist thing." And she inhaled it, but they didn't need to know that.

"Shit..." Officer Brick muttered something into his radio, "This is officer Grimm. Serpent Skulls are in posession of Terrigen Mist, over."

"And, uh, where are they now, 'hero'?" Younger guy's voice was condescending as all hell.

"They're gone, as you can plainly see. Might wanna ask their pals where they went. All of em should still be breathing." Well, except maybe floaty guy, but she wasn't in control of herself then.

"Fuck, you know you freaks just make everything worse? Shoulda left this for the experts."

"Masters!" Officer Grimm glared at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, where were  _you_  guys? Oh, that's right, crashed in a fucking pole about a mile that way!" Lana scowled up at him and pried herself off Frog-Boy to stand on her own two feet. She was  _not_  in the mood for this shit, "You wanna go after these guys? Be my guest. I gotta get back anyway."

She shoved past Officer Dickface and managed to round the corner before the dizziness came back and she was forced to lean against the wall for balance. She stayed there for about a minute before Frog boy was there again, "I'm fine!" Lana growled at him. She immediately felt guilty when he shrunk back. Guy was just trying to help and she was taking it all out on him, "...Sorry, I'm just not in a good mood. I know you're just trying to help."

"I-It's cool. You need help back to your place?

"Sure. It's not too far anyway." She leaned against Frogger and they silently made it all the way back to her prison- er,  _place of education_. Eugene dropped her off at the gate (school rules) and Lana stumbled inside and took the stairs in lieu of boosting herself up. For all she knew she'd end up shooting herself to outer space.

Lana stumbled inside her room and Anya's smile was immediately replaced with a worried look when she saw her state, "What the heck happened to you?" The other girl immediately helped steady her.

"Long story..." She stumbled to her bed only to scream when she felt something was most definitely not pillows under the blankets. Lana pulled the fabric back and groaned when she saw Aracely staring up at her with equally wide eyes, "What the fuck, Aracely?! What are you doing here?!" She turned to Anya, "And how the fuck didn't you know she was here?!"

"I was studying and thought you just bunched up your pillows! I didn't think anyone would sneak inside!" Anya shot back.

"Fuck..." Her headache was getting worse, "Aracely, how did you find me."

"I followed your voice." Right, she almost forgot that she was some kind of fucking telepath, "I...I didn't feel safe in the apartment alone." Huh, she sounded  _way_  more fluent than last night.

"How are you speaking English so well?"

"Am I? I'm just...talking." Great, another thing they had to deal with.

"What do we do with her?" Anya asked.

"Well we can't just kick her out..." Lana sighed, "...Fuck, we'll keep her here for now. William didn't pay extra for a maid so as long as we keep quiet she can stay for a few days." She turned to Aracely, "You hear me?  _Quiet_. They find you in here and we're both expelled and they'll turn you over to the cops."

"Yes. Quiet as a mouse."

Lana breathed softly and stripped till she was in nothing but a tanktop and her undies. She'd need to call Wasp or something...tomorrow. Right now she just wanted to  _sleep,_  "Scoot over..." She pushed Aracely to the other side of the bed and practically collapsed while Anya threw up her arms and went back to studying. Sleep, beatiful and merciful mistress, take her now.

...

She looked up and glared as Aracely floated off the bed and took the entire blanket with her. Anya gaped and pointed with a silent scream while Lana covered her face with a pillow and yelled into it.

* * *

 **ButterflyTornado: -embedded video-** Striker's new powers in action!  **#canshegetanystronger #isurehopeso**

 **IllegallyBlonde:** So first that bitch gets explosion powers and hangs out with celebs and now she gets even  _more?_  God really is dead.

 **HartManiac:**  Sounds like someone's a little jealous,  _Brooke_. Salty that Lana didn't give you that shoutout you wanted :P

 **No1SpiderWomanFan:** Holy crap, I gotta call her!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, Cindy has the most limp identity reveal in the entire story while Lana gets a Terrigenesis power boost proving that she's an Inhuman. Good for her, but considering Roxxon already being interested in her and his M.O being gathering up Inhumans, this spells bad things for her future. On the bright side she's much harder to kill now so maybe Sue won't worry as much.
> 
> For anyone who might want a basis for her new abilities, check out Fetch from Infamous: First Light. Anyway, next chapter will be Mary Jane's attempts at heroism and then either Cindy's interview with Harry or Noir's heartwarming reunion with Bullseye. We'll see.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. So apparently there are people shipping Matt with Karen...why? It's not like anything in that scene was shippy or anything. Ruth even saying 'she loves you' was intended to be creepy.
> 
> 2\. So I've been getting suggestions for MJ to have alternate LI's. Anyone have any suggestions? A friend suggested Kate as a 'stable' option and those who want Clone Saga want a Male!Gwen clone. Curious on everyone's thoughts...and no, not Norah. Pretty sure I made clear that that wasn't happening.
> 
> 3\. The severe lack of good bois in this story has been noted. Anyone have any suggestions for any male non anti-heroes? So far I only have Gabriel and the upcoming Iron Fist and MVP.


	15. Finally they sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people seem to be confused about Lana's segment. When I said look at Fetch from Infamous: First Light I didn't mean that I literally gave Lana Neon powers. I meant that it's a good basis for what her capabilities are. She's still got her old powerset, it's just far more refined now that she's had a proper terrigenesis. She uses energy and explosive blasts, not Neon.
> 
> A few people also mentioned Flash Venom. I feel like I should remind people that Flash is not a war veteran in this dimension and is just a friendly jock type. Also going out with Glory, so going with MJ is a no-go. I'm also not planning to have anymore dimensional drop-ins so getting the 616 version is a no go.
> 
> Anyway, the threesome option lost; mostly on the basis that a bunch of people are flat out against it, which counts as a negative vote. The current winner is MJ with either Felicia or Matt. This should be fun.
> 
> Also, buffing Noir has won the vote by a narrow margin...but there's a catch. People can't seem to agree whether they want wall-crawling/webswinging, more demonic gadgets or, and this is a weird one, a freaking devil trigger. Guess different people want different power-ups.
> 
> Side Note - Big thanks to Nerdman3000 for the new cover :D Really flattering to have someone make a cover for free.

**Truther:**  Anyone else notice that most of the heroes we have are female? The big names like Spider-Woman, She-Hulk, Captain America, Wasp- heck, just all the Avengers really. Anyone else find that weird?

 **Whyyyyyyy:** Not really? I mean half the world is female, so 50/50 shot. Nothing odd about it.

 **HINdsIGHtLad** : Pfft, that's what sheeple like  **Whyyyyyyy** want you to think. We all know it's a fucking conspiracy. Pretty soon us guys are gonna

 **Doorgal** : Dude, you've literally been banned twice because you've been making sexist comments and ranting about the 'feminist super conspiracy'. Take a fucking chill pill and quiet acting like all women are out to get you.

 **HINdsIGHtLad** : Wasn't talking to you, *&&^ *

 **Doorgal:**  Lol they still put a profanity filter on you? Bitch.

 **Truther:**  Not saying I agree with  **HINdsIGHtLad** but it is pretty weird. Why don't we ever see any male Avengers?

 **Whyyyyyyy:** What about the Initiative? I see a lot of guys over there.

 **HINdsIGHtLad** : Yeah, and how many of em have powers? Yeah, that's what I thought. Those *&$&* femoids are giving themselves all the powers and leaving men with nothing. Selfish %&^*

 **Spinerette:**  Yes,  **HINdsIGHtLad** , me and Cap - who has no powers, by the way - are planning right now to overthrow men because we have nothing better to do like saving the world or fighting crime.

 **HINdsIGHtLad** : I &* &** knew it!

 **FiendlyNeighborhoodSpiderwoman:**  Why are you feeding the troll, Spinerette?

 **Spinerette:** Cause he's the one who tried to leave multiple mail bombs in Avengers mansion, one of which detonated early and hurt a lot of people. And he forgot to mask his IP, so he's being paid a visit to by our friends the police. They should be outside his door now.

 **HINdsIGHtLad:** &$*& you!

 **Spinerette:** Bye. Hope you like Rykers :)

 **Truther:**  This took an unexpected turn...

* * *

Patrolling with Gwen was...interesting. Up until now whenever MJ had put on a costume she did it in the dark of night in some kind of grotty bathroom or a dirty back alley. It wasn't glamorous and it wasn't fun - she did it because she had to, or at least that was what she kept telling herself. Even the costume was lame, something a woman with no budget and not a lot of time on her hands would come up with.

Now she was swinging through the air in the sun side by side with Gwen. The white-clad Spider flipped in a wide arc and did a helix roll, "Come on, Scarlet! Catch up!" She teased loudly. Mary Jane smiled and did a pose of her own before swinging again.

**_'This is torture.'_ **

_'Let me have this.'_ She spun on a flagpole then swung slow till she could trace her hands across the asphalt. Everyone on the sidewalk turned to look at her as she passed and she felt an all too familiar fluttering in her chest. It was like she was back on stage again with the crowd cheering as she sang.  _Oh God_  how she missed it. The music, the attention, the lights and sounds...

Maybe being a Superhero would be just as good.

 ** _'Don't kid yourself.'_**  And the high was gone,  ** _'You think you can be like her? You'll never have what she has. The adoration, the accomplishments, her boy toy, and especially her_ love _.'_** It made a disgusted noise at that,  ** _'Why not just accept what you are? You're a killer, a powerful one who_ enjoys  _what she does. No amount of fancy costumes and saving kittens from trees can change that.'_**

 _'Except I saved people last night,'_ she thought back stonily, _'I don't care if you think I can't do this. I'm not gonna stop trying and you can just suck it up because I'm the one with the hands on the controls.'_

**_'Don't get cocky, 'MJ'.'_ **

She ignored its growling (whining) and followed Gwen up to the top of a large building, "Race you to the top!" Gwen shouted down at her as she landed on the side and began to run up the wall. MJ grinned and ran up after her. This was crazy. Just a year ago even the thought of being like Gwen - swinging through the air, rushing by boggled eyed crowds and running up walls - was impossible; just jealous daydreams of what it would've been like if she'd been the one to get bitten at that science fair.

And now here she was, racing Gwen up a freaking building.

Gwen made it up first, as expected. Mary Jane sat by her on the edge and just looked at the city. She'd never gotten a view like this before. For the most part she kept low on the streets and tried not to draw attention to herself. Mary Jane took a deep breath and let the cold New York air whip her 'hair' around, "Hmm..." She lowered her mask. She doubted anyone could see them from up here.

**_Up here, with all the people down there as small as ants, she almost forgot about the feeling of blood on her hands._ **

"You seem like you're having fun." Gwen leaned back slightly.

"Yeah, it's...it's been a while, actually." She looked down at her open palms and the tips turned to claws, "...You know what I've been doing, Gwen. It's...It hasn't been easy, living with this thing in my head."

"I know. I'm sorry, I should've-"

"You couldn't have done anything." MJ sighed, "Seriously, Gwen, you need to stop blaming yourself for  _everything_. You might have superpowers, but you're not God. Sometimes things just fuck up and we have to deal with it."

**_'Is that all I am to you? A 'fuck up'?'_ **

_'Don't act like you're offended. You lost that privilege after the fifth night whining about how your mass murderer buddy would've let you eat that guy.'_

**_'He was having a heart attack and he was dead on the spot! He was practically being served to us!'_ **

_'...You're gross.'_

**_'And you're too picky'._ **

"Yeah, I know, it's just...Kasady was my responsibility. If I'd been more thorough..." Crimson growled and the skin on her forearms shook. Gwen gave her a worried look, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Crimson whines, but we deal with each other. Have been for a year now."

 ** _'A year and we've bonded less than Cletus and I had.'_** She couldn't help but notice it didn't say ' _my_  Cletus',  ** _'You resist less, but still resist nonetheless. Why? The boytoy already told you I wasn't lying. Or do you perhaps still hope that somehow we can be separated?'_**

_'No, but one year of tug of war isn't going to be forgotten just because of it. And don't call him that.'_

**_'Why? It's what you want him to be. I've seen into your mind, Little Red. You want him naked and helpless beneath you, his face flushed with embarrassment and want for you. You'll smile as you drag a clawed finger down his chest while Stacy watches and begs to join-_ **

_'Shut up, shut up, shut up! For someone who hates it so much you're a real fucking pervo!'_ She grit her teeth and tried her best to ignore the deep red blush on her cheeks and the way her heart rate rose.

Unfortunately, Gwen noticed, "MJ, are you okay?" She put a hand on her shoulder and MJ  _really_  didn't want it there right now.

"I-I'm fine! Just...having an argument with Crimson. Happens a lot." Technically not a lie, even if Crimson was sing-songing at the back of her head right now. Little turd, "Can we just...do the patrol thing? Is there anything special we do or what?"

"Huh? Oh, no, nothing much. I got a special crime scanner app. You know, from all those crime towers?" Yeah, she'd heard her prof mention about how much of a breach in privacy it was. Mary Jane had to agree, though apparently the statistics of crime decrease panned out so up they stayed. Which reminded her, she had a paper on Safety vs Liberty due in a couple of days...

As if on cue, Gwen's phone beeped, "Mugging. 8 on 1."

"Wait, what? How the fuck does that work? Do they split the 50 bucks and lip gloss 8 ways?"

"Some crims figured that if they were gonna crime it up in the Initiative's head state they might as well come prepared. Really, if they put in this much work on an actual job I'm pretty sure they wouldn't need to do crime, but whatever. Let's go." Mary Jane put on her mask again and jumped down after Gwen.

Many hours later and MJ felt better than she had in days. Fighting crime like a Superhero was different to her nightly excursions. Out there in the daylight with people watching the urge to lop off people's heads or pull their guts out through either ends was...well, it wasn't  _gone_ , but it was easier to ignore. Surprising how a bunch of watching eyes really took it out of you.

They even ran into a Supervillain. Granted it was just a guy in a bear costume calling himself Grizzly, but he could toss cars and was kinda bulletproof so she counted it. The sun had come down by the time Gwen decided to call it quits.

"That was productive." Gwen stretched her arms above her head and groaned softly. Mary Jane tried not to look at how tightly the suit clung to her toned body, "Wanna head back?"

"Uh...no, I'll keep looking around." Mary Jane's eyes narrowed slightly, "I-I'm not going to do anything like  _that_ , if that's what you're thinking. I just don't wanna head back yet."

"Well...okay, but make sure to call me if you need anything."

They shared a quick embrace before going their separate ways. Mary Jane sat at the edge of the building and watched Gwen swing past a building out of sight,  _ **'You need to move on from her.'**_ Mary Jane pretended not to hear it,  ** _'She'll never feel the same way you do about her. Better to steal the boytoy from her.'_**

_'Oh would you shut it?'_

Sighing, Mary Jane stood and swung around aimlessly. It was nighttime now; her element. This was when the dregs came out.

Speaking of...

Two men, one of them holding a knife and the other holding a pistol, knocked someone off a roof into an alley below and screamed something in Russian,  _'Don't kill anyone.'_  She swung down and kicked knife guy's arm, breaking it painfully. He screamed and Mary Jane smashed his head against the edge of the short barrier while his buddy scrambled back. Mary Jane webbed his shoulder, the barbed tip digging into the skin painfully, and tugged. The headbutt broke his nose and left his entire face cover in blood.

 _'Gotta check on that guy.'_ She flipped down and winced at the scent of blood mixed with garbage. Poor bastard fell into the dumpster, "Hey, you breathing?" She peeked over the edge of the bin and her eyes widened.

Matt Murdock. She couldn't see his face underneath that devil mask, but she'd heard Gwen rant about 'the fucker dressed like a devil' enough times to make an educated guess, "What the hell...?" She looked around the area, like she was afraid someone would jump out and tell her she'd been punk'd. Instead it was nothing but complete silence and the smell of bloody garbage.

She was tempted to leave him right then and there. He never did anything to her personally, but solidarity for Peter and Gwen was more than enough reason. He'd made both their lives miserable- hell, he  _killed_  Peter. Maybe he hadn't been the one to pull the trigger but those were his men and they were working under his orders.

But was that really his fault? Peter said he'd been possessed by some kind of devil and the world was crazy enough that she honestly believed it. Did being possessed meant you get cut some slack?

Her internal debate was interrupted by a soft, pained groan. Mary Jane stumbled back as Murdock pulled himself over the edge of the bin and landed on the ground face first with a dull smack, "Damn it..." He stunk. He groped the surface of the dumpster and used it to pull himself himself up to a shaky stand. Judging by the way he was leaning on on his left leg it wasn't hard to tell he was still reeling.

Mary Jane almost swung out of there, but then of course she had to open her damn mouth, "You smell."

His mouth split in an amused smirk and he gave her an upwards, sideways glance, "And a hearty hello to you too, Ms. Watson." Her eyes widened underneath her mask and he laughed softly, "I've known who you are for a while now. Don't worry, your secret's safe with. Wouldn't do to make Peter and Ms. Stacy any more cross with me than they already are. My body wouldn't be able to take it."

"Right...what did I just swing into here?" she asked back warily.

"Russian mob. Human traffickers." He stood and adjusted his right elbow with a sickening crack, "There's been a rash of kidnappings lately with Gifted as the target. They took a child earlier and left the father bleeding on the sidewalk."

Mary Jane immediately felt sick to her stomach. Kidnapping and human trafficking was bad enough, but a child on top of that? "You were trying to save him?"

"Yes, but I suppose I overestimated my state of health." He looked up, "Two faint heartbeats above...thank you for leaving them alive. I need to interrogate them. They're my only shot at tracking the rest of the group. Have a safe evening."

"H-Hey wait a second!" She stood in front of him, "You can't just tell me a little kid got kidnapped and expect me to leave it! I'm coming with you."

"That's hardly necessary-"

"I wasn't asking."

His smirk widened and he laughed again, "I see you've picked up some things from Spider-Woman. Very well then, Ms. Watson, let's be partners."

"We're not partners. I'm doing this for that kid...and it's Scarlet Spider."

"Oh? My apologies then."

Five minutes later and she was standing back and watching the Devil of Hell's Kitchen drive a knife down someone's face, ** _'We should get in on that,'_** Crimson groused. Mary Jane ignored it,  ** _'Come on, don't tell me you're scared of hurting them! You broke their bones earlier and they're part of the deserving!'_**

Thankfully she didn't have to argue before the mobster squealed. Murdock put the blood knife away and left him knocked out and bound next to his unconscious buddy, "Good news and bad news. Good news is it's not far from here. Bad news is they've reinforced their men ever since Striker and her friend disrupted the operation down at the docks. It won't be easy to get to the child."

"That's what I'm here for." She raised her right hand and sharpened her fingers.

"Indeed. I would've been, to quote you youngsters, 'up shit's creek' without your aid." She rolled her eyes. Guy probably wasn't even 40 so he could screw off with that 'I'm old and seen it all' bs, "Let's split up then. According to our unconscious friend here the bulk of their men will be converged on the lower floor. I'll sneak into the top and take care of the few sentries stationed there while you deal with the rest."

"Sure you can handle it, garbage man?"

"If I can't then you'll be right behind me."

The trip to the building was mercifully quiet and by the time she was on the front door she'd braced herself for what she was about to do. It wasn't her first time doing something like this, but she had to remind herself again not to kill anyone. These bastards hadn't escaped the law before like the rest of her targets and they'd already called the cops on the two goons they left back there. These bastards deserved a jail cell.

She kicked the door down and was immediately met with a barrage of gunfire. She made a wall of symbiotic mass and the bullets stuck harmlessly to the surface. She knew it was wrong, but a part of her still couldn't help but relish at how more  _powerful_  she was than them. They might as well have been throwing spitballs from those pistols of theirs for how effective it was.

Fighting them was easy. Mary Jane grabbed the closest goon and used him him as a bludgeon against a group of clustered gunmen. They screamed and cursed in Russian and kept firing. Mary Jane grabbed a table and threw it at another before jumping to the farthest one and smashing his head against the ground. She wouldn't  _kill_  them, but that didn't mean she had to be a soft touch.

A few minutes later about 20 men were left in varying states of pain and she was making her way up the stairs. Murdock was either taking the kid already or he was dead, 'We didn't kill a single person.' Crimson groused again, 'You're getting soft.'

_'They get one shot to be in prison and take it like men.'_

**_'And if they don't?'_ **

_'There's a reason I made that DB subscription...and not just cause Norah asked me to.'_

Mary Jane opened the door just in time to see Murdock punch a guy to the wall and trip over one of the unconscious bodies to the other. The redhead raised a brow and looked over the hallway. Eight unconscious men, some of them with pistols and shotguns. Considering the state she found him in she couldn't help but be impressed. Slightly. Just a tad.

Murdock walked out of the room, shaky and slow, and made his way to the to the door at the end of the hallway. Mary Jane followed behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Maybe I should handle this? You aren't exactly an angel right now."

"Devil jokes are cliche, Scarlet Spider." And then, before she could say anything else, he pulled off his cracked and damaged mask and handed it to her before opening the door.

The room made her insides churn with disgust. It was small with no hint of light to seep into the room and the child was curled up scared in a corner. He was definitely someone who'd been hit by the Mist. His skin was light blue and his eyes were wide and black with no hint of of a white sclera. His clothes damaged and had traces of blood, likely from struggling.

Murdock knelt in front of the boy and he shrunk back, "Hi. I know you're scared, but I'm here to help. Okay?" The eyes shifted from him to Mary Jane and she lowered her mask too and smiled reassuringly, "You don't have to be scared anymore."

"O...Okay."

He nodded and Murdock picked him up with his good arm. Mary Jane put her mask back on and tossed Matt his so he could do the same, "What do we do now?" Mary Jane whispered.

"We'll take him to his father then they can testify. Karen will make sure they get the time they deserve."

Before she knew it the police and ambulances were there. She and Murdock stood on the roof opposite the building and looked down as the father, still banked up but standing tall, hugged his son tightly with tears in his eyes. They couldn't stay. Technically they were still vigilantes with none of the fancy Avengers or Initiative perks. Better

"Well, this was a productive evening." Murdock hummed, "But I'm afraid I've pushed myself to my limit. It'll take...days of rest at the very least before I'll be lucid enough to put on the mask again."

"...Why did you do it?"

"Hm?"

"All this. You aren't seriously going to tell me it was out of the good of your heart, are you?"

"If I did would you believe me?" She didn't reply, "Does it really matter when it comes down to it? Human traffickers are going to prison and a child had a heartwarming reunion with his father. Seems like a victory to me."

"...I don't trust you."

"I didn't say you should. Healthy distrust is the pinnacle of many a cautious individual." He stood and took a deep breath, "But I really must go before I collapse right here. See you around, Scarlet Spider." Murdock clapped her shoulder and left. She didn't bother to turn around and just continued to look down below.

* * *

 **JasonVoorhes13:** Just got saved by Spider-Woman and Scarlet Spider!

 **BirdWatcherzyx:**  Wait, didn't you get kidnapped and stuffed in the back of a trunk?!

 **JasonVoorhes13:**  Still worth it!

 **NoobMaster69:** Lucky! Wish I could get saved by two smoking hot heroes...

 **PeterGriffon** : Didn't you get saved by Spider-Man at that amusement park a year go?

 **NoobMaster69:** Yeah, but he ain't hot...

 **No1SManFan:**  Speak for yourself. Have you  _seen_  that butt?! Those pants can't hide perfection! :3

 **FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:**  Please stop perving on my boyfriend. And I hope you're okay,  **JasonVoorhes13**. Next time avoid fake lottery scams, please.

 **No1SMManFan:**  Spider-Woman, please convince him to wear spandex! Then I can die happy!

 **FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:** Just gonna ignore that too...

* * *

Seeing Gobby again was weird. The last time they'd seen each other was months ago before he went back to Oscorp fully and finally decided that the vigilante gig wasn't for him. Personally she still thought he got off just a little too easy considering the crap he pulled, but the fact that the infected were cured softened the blow. Sure, it didn't erase the people the Lizards killed or Doc Connors murdering his wife and losing his child, but it was...something.

There hadn't been any last goodbyes or anything. Gobby said he was going back to Oscorp, she said 'sure' and that was the end of that. She did keep tabs on him for a while to make sure he actually was doing that. Last she checked he was working on the science division, trying to help the environment by figuring out how to dispose plastic or lower the smoke pollution output of cars. A noble pursuit, all things considered.

"Ah, Cind- uh, I mean-"

"No need for that, Mr. Osborn. I just revealed my identity before we got here." She would've thought the lack of a scarf made that obvious, "Me and Officer De Wolfe are here to take you and Ms. Brock's statement on the robbery?"

"Oh, yes." The woman, a young blonde with glasses and a business suit, stood up and shook their hands. They'd chosen to meet at one of the empty Osborn Offices rooms while forensics scanned through the stuff they found at the lab, "We hope you can help us. Some of the stolen materials were very valuable and crucial to our research."

"That's what we're here for, ma'am." De Wolfe nodded and took out a notepad. At least one other person wasn't stuck to those Upad thing, "Please tell us everything you can recall about the incident."

"Well, me and Harry were working out late on one of our projects when this...bird thing crashed through the wall." Elsa shuddered, "It was...quite a shock."

"Did either of you get a look at the attacker's face?" Cindy asked.

"N-No, I was knocked into the ground when it happened," Elsa said.

"I did, but...I'm not sure how to describe it,," Harry said. De Wolfe turned her attention to him, "The guy was old. Not as old as Adrian Toomes, but definitely up there in years. Brown hair, brown eyes and wrinkled skin. It was his mouth that got my attention. He had these...they looked like fleshy mandibles on the sides of his lower lip."

"Mandibles? Think he got hit with the Terrigen?" De Wolfe asked Cindy.

"Maybe, but eyewitness reports said he still had the harness so I'm not counting on him being pure powers." Cindy crossed her arms, "Did you get a good look at his tech? Anything that might come to mind?"

"N-Nothing much. It was kind of blurry and I couldn't make out anything specific on it aside from the color. Red and black," Elsa said. Cindy had to resist the urge to make a joke on said color scheme, "I have to assume given the explosion that he carried handheld explosives."

"Fornesics did find some metal that might have been casing. Still trying to determine that," De Wolfe said, "Could you tell us what he stole specifically? It could be useful in tracking him down."

"The lab equipment was the most valuable part. I made a list earlier. Here." He handed the sheet to Cindy and she scanned through it quickly, "Apart from that he took some acid we were tweaking so it can melt down plastics in the ocean and then disperse harmlessly. In the current state it's in right now it's still dangerous and potent."

"Great, we've got a bird man running around with acid." Cindy rubbed her forehead and sighed, "How much did he take?"

"About five gallons, but in its raw state even a few ounces is dangerous."

"Double great..."

They asked a few more questions - likely suspects and the like - before Elsa and Jean left to go get some coffee, leaving her alone with Gobby. Cindy sat on the nearby chair and looked through her notes. So far everything pointed to it being a hired job. Maybe Vulture guy would sell it on the black market? She could contact Felicia and have her run through her contacts to see if they knew anything.

"It's...good to see you again."

"You...you too." Wasn't the whole truth, but wasn't a lie either. She felt...neutral about him, "Good to see you're doing something worthwhile with your time."

"Yeah, it's been...odd going into science. Last time I did it was with Pete." And with her evil twin when she infected those innocent people, but she didn't say that out loud. Why ruin the moment? "I still can't believe you're working with the cops."

"Pays the bills." She shrugged.

"I thought you got paid by Tony Stark-"

"It was a joke, Gobby." He stopped flinching at the nickname now, "So, is there anything you wanna add to your testimony?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean if you and Ms. Elsa there did something you don't want the cops to know."

"How could you- no, I don't have anything to add. I know you still have your doubts, but I'm trying to make up for what I did; and that includes no breaking the law. Everything we had, including the acid, was bought through legal means. I just...I want to make up for what I did."

"Fine. I believe you." She shrugged, "What's the story with the blonde?"

"Elsa? She's worked with Oscorp straight out of college. A young up and comer by the looks of her." He wrung his hands without noticing. A tell.

"So...you two sleeping together?"

"Cindy!"

"What? Just a question." She rolled her eyes. She thought Gobby, of all people, wouldn't be a prude considering they already saw each other naked, "It's good that you're getting into a relationship. Our mutual friend's worried about you."

"She shouldn't be. She has enough on her plate, especially with him back in town." Yeah, she was pretty sure Pete still hated him, "And if you must know, yes, me and Elsa are dating. I'm...I'm worried about her. She's been shaken up ever since this entire thing."

"Not surprised. Not every day a Birdman comes in and steals your acid."

A pair of footsteps came up to the door and, surprise surprise, it wasn't either Jean or Elsa, "Harry, Ms. Moon." Norman Osborn went inside smoothly and closed the door behind him.

"Dad." Gobby nodded somewhat stiffly. He didn't hate his dad anymore - it took some real cojones to claim that while working for the dude's company - but that didn't mean he liked him. Cindy just tried not to get in the middle of it, "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking in. I'd heard through the grapevine that Ms. Moon was the one interviewing you." He stuck his hand out, "Pleasure to see you again."

"You too, Mr. Osborn." Cindy smiled back, less stiff than his son. She actually liked the elder Osborn, mostly cause he didn't hold her spying on him for S.H.I.E.L.D against her. Apparently he considered her pushing Gobby to give up his bs crusade to be more than enough payment, which was nice of him, "We won't be here long. I'm just waiting for Jean to come back then we'll see about getting this break-in finished."

"Oh yes, this copycat of Adrian. I didn't think anyone would imitate his madness."

"Adrian...you knew the Vulture?"

"Oh, yes. He worked in this company for decades...I have no idea what pushed him to such a state." According to Pete he was just like the former Peter Parker - someone who saw all the shiny people in costumes and decided to break bad (sounded like a cool idea for a show, actually), "Well, if you need any aid then please don't hesitate to ask. Harry and I both owe you a personal debt, after all."

"You don't owe me anything. I did spy on you, after all." She and Harry shared a wry smile and she shrugged.

"Yes, well, S.H.I.E.L.D is now defunct - officially - so many of those contracts technically no longer apply." He coughed politely, "Speaking of, have you thought about my previous offer?"

Oh yeah, his suggestion that she work as Oscorp's sponsored hero. Technically She-Hulk worked for the EEW - Entertainment and Engagement Wrestling, cause  _of course_  it was - and Wasp represented Dyne Corp, so it wasn't actually against the rules. She heard that Donald Roxxon was representing his own company officially in a week and Tony Stark was also considering it. She'd put in her suggestion for Iron Man, but he refused. Apparently he found the name 'kinda basic'. Pfft.

"Oh, that's still a thing? I was kinda assuming that you only said that cause you wanted me to stop spying on you."

"Well, yes, but the offer is still applicable. I won't lie: the positive publicity you would bring is worth more than any price."

"Even if I asked for a bajillion dollars?" she asked back with a teasing smile, "Look, it's a real tempting offer, but I am kinda helping the police right now. Don't really have time to start being a mascot."

"You wouldn't have to quit your current career course. I'm perfectly fine with the occasional appearance at your convenience. As I said, the association is more than worth it."

"Well...I'll think about it, okay? Just lemme solve this case first."

Hours later and she and Jean were at a bar along with a few other police officers (even Masters, much to her dismay). Jean had invited her out and commented that getting to go out and get sauced with other officers was one of the new benefits of the open identity. Cindy just shrugged and went along with it. She wasn't going to say no to drinking with company. It got tiring drinking corner store beer all by her lonesome.

"So lemme get this straight. You're from another dimension?" Wilson asked. The officers were  _real_ interested about that

"Yeah." She shrugged and drank her tequila mix. Bit stronger than what she was used to, but hey, "I think I know your kid, actually. Her name's Liz, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Just a guess." She smirked, "Anyway, I was classmates with a Liz Allan. Blonde girl, super popular, hung out with the jocks." She was also classmates with Peter Parker and Jessica Cambel nee Jones, a.k.a Coma Girl. Odd how some of the ages fluctuated.

"You sure that's my girl? She was a goth for all of high school."

"Alternate dimensions. What can ya do?" She shrugged lightly.

"Anyone else here you know?" Ben Grimm asked.

"Funny you should ask that, Mr. Baby Blues."  _God_  those eyes were amazing. Such a shame Alicia Masters was blind in this universe too, "Back home you, Benjamin Jacob Grimm, are a superhero."

That got her a wave of guffaws, "Oh you're shittin' me! Benjy was a superhero?"

"Yep. The Ever-lovin' blue eyed Thing. You, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Reed Richards went on a rocket and got bathed in cosmic rays and got superpowers." That got her some disbelieving snorts, "Hey, it's true! I couldn't make this crap up if I tried! You were part of the Fantastic 4, saving the world in snappy blue jumpsuits. I even had one of your plushies at my bunker."

"Wait, bunker? What, did your place have a nuclear apocalypse?" The question was asked by Detective Walter Bolt. Young, light red hair and someone who definitely hit the gym. Definitely someone she wanted to know better.

"No, that's...that's a bit of a long story." She swirled her tequila and took a deep breath. Her therapist did say talking about it helped, "So when I got my powers things weren't the greatest. I was shooting webs everywhere and I almost had to drop out of school...then I got put into a bunker for 10 years."

She told them everything. Ezekiel, the training her put her through, the bunker...everything but her family's death. She didn't care what Dr. Margolis said, some things were better kept to herself and the people she was closest to. The mood at the counter had gotten far more somber and she immediately felt bad for dragging everyone down.

Then Masters opened his big mouth again.

"Come on, you honestly believe this shit?" He scoffed. He was amazingly lucid considering how much he drank, "Alternate dimensions? Grimm's a superhero? Ten years in a fucking fallout shelter? She's pulling shit outta her ass!"

"You'd know, wouldn't you? You've been staring at it all night." De Wolfe snorted.

And just like that the light atmosphere returned. She almost wanted to thank the jerk for fixing things. Almost, "Aww, I'm flattered, Masters, but I'm not into racist dicks." She blew him a kiss and then, before she could save herself the embarrassment, smacked her butt. Jean and Walter laughed loudly while Master's face turned red and he muttered something unintelligible into his drink. Five bucks 'Freak' was used at least twice.

The rest of the time was spent with far more lighthearted stories and soon enough she was being helped back to her place by Detective Bolt. He'd drunk remarkably less than everyone else and Cindy was only mildly intoxicated despite the the multiple tequila shots. Spider powers and all.

He helped her to her apartment and dropped her at her couch, "Nice place." He whistled, impressed. She was too busy looking at that very form-fitting shirt of his, "Guess being an Avenger pays, huh?"

"Sometimes." She leaned back and smiled up at him lopsidedly.

"Well, I should probably get back..." He looked down at her flush, sweaty neck and blushed. Cute, "Uh...I'll see you at work tomorrow."

"Or...you could stay." She traced her fingers up his hand to his wrist, "Bed's big enough for two."

"I...I wouldn't wanna take advantage."

"Trust me, I am not  _nearly_ drunk enough for you to take advantage. If I was I would've been going for Masters." She faked a gagging sound at that while Walter smiled slightly, "Unless you don't find me attractive? Is it the scars?" she asked, just the right amount of coy innocent. Those seduction lessons from Agent Romanoff came in useful now and then.

"N-No, I do find you attractive! And you look beautiful, scars or no." Wow, the guy was sweet. Natural charmer he was, "It's just...I wanna be sure that  _you're_  sure and-" She kissed him, sloppy and deep, and he returned the gesture. Jackpot.

Hours later and she woke up with only a mild hangover. Cindy sat up and stretched her arms above her head. Walter slept peacefully net her and she let out a satisfied hum.  _Way_  better than a grindr hook up. Rubbing her eyes, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and picked up the first thing she could - his shirt - and draped it over herself as she went out into the kitchen.

She was only mildly surprised to find Shadowcat sitting at the table and helping herself to some leftover pizza, "Hey there, Kitty, make yourself at home," Cindy snarked. She picked up some aspirin and drank it quickly, "Don't suppose you're here to tell me you're planning to be the sister Laura needs?"

"Hardly. Munchkin's already attached to ya, so you can forget about her letting go anytime soon." Shadowcat snorted, "Actually ran into a friend a' yours in Madripoor and apparently he wanted to meet. Something about his friends being kidnapped."

"Which friend?"

She didn't get any sort of warning before a plume of bluish smoke appeared in front of her and the smell of sulfur wafted up her nostrils. Cindy coughed and the smoke was quickly dispelled with a blue, fuzzy figure stood in his place.

Kurt Wagner smiled somewhat awkwardly and raised a hand in greeting, "Good evening,  _fräulein_. I need your help."

* * *

 **BestCopInNYC:** Just had a drink with Spinerette and the rest of the squad. She's got a lot of stories. Apparently she came from another dimension?

 **PonyHead:**  Haha, I knew it! Pay up you losers!

 **FactChannelIntern:**  Think she'd be willing to do an interview? If I get one my boss is gonna flip!

 **AlsoTheBestCopInNYC:**  Some of the things she told us was trippy...and sad. Could you imagine losing ten years of your life stuck in one room?

 **MatrixRebooted** : Doesn't seem so bad. I didn't leave my room for 7 years. Who cares when you have internet?

 **AlsoTheBestCopInNYC:** She didn't have internet.

 **MatrixRebooted:** Oh...she has my deepest condolences.

 **BestCopInNYC:**  Walter went with her. Ten bucks says he got lucky.

 **GGlol500** : Wait, isn't she gay?

 **BestCopInNYC:**  Sure, if you count her practically undressing Walter as gay. Walter's a dude, by the way.

 **GGlol500:**  Doh. That pride parade's gonna be awkward...

* * *

Peter punched Bullseye in the face. Hard.

The bald psychopath stumbled back the same time Peter did. He looked down at the knife in his gut and pulled it out with a light hiss. Hellfire...Bullseye took his knife, "Damn it..." He focused on making the bleeding stop while Bullseye laughed and wiped his bloody nose. If he was bothered by his now-broken nose he didn't show it, "What the hell did you do...?"

"I stabbed you. Thought that'd be obvious, kid." Bullseye grinned smarmily and shrugged without a care. It was the same way he looked after getting one too many drinks, "Nice knfie, by the way. Very pointy."

He tossed more blades at him. Peter ran and hid behind the closest pillar, trying to ignore the pain in his mid-section. He couldn't fight like this, "What the hell happened to you?" He unsheathed is pistol and shut his eyes briefly. Could he really shoot Bullseye?

"You just said it twice: Hell. Lemme tell ya, it's a real bitch down there!" Peter ran to the other pillar and fired two warning shots at Bullseye's feet, "Aww, holding back? That ain't the kid I remember." Peter hid behind another pillar just as more knives almost hit his back, "If you're curious, the Hand brought me back. You know, those ninjas we spent the past year killin'?"

"They brought you back..." White-hot burning rage engulfed his insides. He was going to bury every single one of them.

"Yup! New and improved!"

A knife bounced from the floor and his spider-sense just barely managed to warn him. Peter side-stepped and the knife skidded past his thigh, drawing blood, "Come on, kid!" Bullseye charged towards him and Peter dodged his frenzied slashes before covering him in a net of webbing.

"Really, that's the best ya can do?" He tore through the webs easily, "Should probably tell ya I ain't really alive. It's kind of a funny in-between thing that's a work in progress, so those fancy web of yours ain't gonna do any good. Ya wanna put me down you're gonna have to work for it."

Another barrage of knives. Peter side-stepped the blades and raised his hand to his bleeding cheek. Damn Hellfire was making him slow, "I don't want to hurt you." Bullseye charged towards him and punched Peter right after throwing another couple of knives. The hit landed on the Hellfire wound and Peter fell to the floor on his knees, "...Last chance, Bullseye. Please."

"Aww, how sweet." Bullseye tugged his mask off and pulled grabbed Peter's hair to make him face up, "Well, if you don't wanna fight maybe I should go visit that girlfriend of yours? Nah, she's too strong. How about little old Lana? I'm sure she'll bleed real pretty.

Peter punched Bullseye in the gut and disappeared, "Ohh, hidin' again?" He thew another knife close to where he was. Peter appeared in front of him and punched him in his broken nose before disappearing again, "You're still holdin' back! Come on, where's the killer I fell in love with! Stab that knife into me! Blow my brains out! You know you want to!"

A gunshot rang out. Bullseye fell to his knees and blood pooled out of his left kneecap, "There he is." He looked up and grinned a bloodstained smile as Peter reappeared with a pistol aimed at his forehead, "Oh, this is perfect. This was how it should've ended the first time! Better than that bastard Murdock being the one to do me in."

"Speaking of, here's one thing I'm curious about: why is he still alive?" His grip on the pistol became shaky, "I definitely remember that bastard havin' us dead to rights and you beggin' for my life. I didn't hear any promises of revenge, but that was implied. So now you're, what, buddy buddy with him? He's my replacement, huh? You got shit taste, kid."

He should've pulled the trigger right then and there. Bullseye tossed something to the floor and a bright flash engulfed the entirety of the subway. Peter shook his head and by the time his vision had cleared again Bullseye was gone damn it, "Damn it..." He punched the ground and growl. Blood trail led to the tracks, but he wasn't in any state to go after him.

...He needed to talk to Page.

It took hours to find her. Page wasn't an easy person to talk to when she didn't summon you first. Peter entered the library, one hand nursing his still searing wound, and walked slowly towards the table. Page sat alone, her legs crossed and a cup of tea in her hand. He wanted to smack it to the floor and scream in her face, but that would've ended with him in two pieces on the floor.

Page looked up and smiled when she saw him. He stopped in his tracks. It wasn't the cold, calculating one she always sported. This one was soft and unsure. Sincere, "Oh, Peter...I wasn't expecting you." She set her cup of tea down and gestured to the other seat opposite her, which he took after some reluctance, "Ruth's expecting a visitor later, but we can chat till she comes back. I rarely get a chance to talk alone."

"You're...Karen Page? The real one?"

"Guilty as charged." She held up both hands in mock surrender and laughed softly, "I'm sorry if I'm being kinda weird. It's been a while since I didn't have Ruth with me."

"You're...different than I imagined." He almost forgot about Bullseye. Almost.

"Ooh, and what  _did_  you think of me, Spider-Man?" Her smile was wider now, mischievous almost. It looked odd on her...and yet bizarrely fitting in a way, "Did you think I was some conniving puppetmaster like Ruth was?"

"Honestly...yes."

"Yeah, well, I don't blame you. She's very...in control." That was one word for it, sure, "I know it doesn't mean much, but I'd like to apologize for the way she treated you. Ruth means well, she's just...she's lived millenias without really talking to people. Ruth's an angel of judgement. She only sees people at their worst so her bond with people is...strained. I'm her first human host in God only knows how long."

"...How did you get together with her?"

"Desperation, mostly. Love too. Me and Matt were together for a few years in college and I thought he was a good man underneath. Cliche, I know, but I was young." Her smile faltered, "When Ruth offered me a deal I took it. Of course that was before I realized she came with all those rules. Ugh, angels and demons; they both screw you with the fine print."

"So why are you still together? The Beast is dead and Matt's...alive." He tried to ignore Bullseye's biting question.

"Because she's doing good, and...I think she needs me." She smiled sadly, "Ruth is a good person; she just doesn't understand the people she's supposed to protect. I'm helping her with that. I'm sure I'll be long dead before I can make any milestones, but even an inch is good enough for me."

"You're fine living your life like this?"

"She doesn't keep me prisoner in my own body, if that's what you think. When we're together...Ruth changes me, but I also change her. The Ruth I know wouldn't have made homeless shelters and she wouldn't have hesitated to kill anyone she considers guilty. Besides, we all make sacrifices. You and Gwen give so much of yourselves for this city."

"That's different."

"I don't think so." She paused and said her next words slowly, "I know you have good reason to hate Matt, but I do still think he has goodness in him. Please take care of him for me."

She leaned forward and squeezed his hand with a reassuring smile. Peter was about to respond before her grip suddenly slackened and she picked up her cup of tea again, "Page." She wasn't Karen anymore. The blonde took a sup of her tea, "...You knew about Bullseye."

"Yes." Flat and measured. Karen really was gone, "I assume by your state you fought him."

"You could say that." He grit his teeth, "That deal you gave me-"

"Still applies," she interrupted coldly, "I told you beforehand that I could pluck his soul from his well deserved damnation. If you kill him now then he will enter purgatory. It will not save him from damnation completely, but it will give him a chance to alter his fate."

"You could've told me he was alive."

"Irrelevant. His soul is in a state of flux right now, so he's not the friend you know. If you wish to be sentimental about this then let Matthew face him for you. I'm sure he'll be more than willing to finish what he started."

"...I dunno what Karen sees in you."

Her eyes narrowed by just the smallest amount, "I see things objectively. That man has cost the lives of hundreds of innocents in his hubris. He deserved his damnation and my offer to rescind his well-earned fate is more than generous." She set her cup down, "Now, if there's nothing else you wish to talk about please leave. I have a meeting with an old friend and I doubt you wish to meet her."

Peter stood and just barely held back his scowl. Growling at her wouldn't do any good. He was halfway across the length of the library when she called out, "I suggest you rest for the next few days. That wound requires healing."

He made his way back to Gwen's place. She was already digging into a pizza with the symbiote nibbling on some chocolate nearby, "Hey, Pete, how's it-" Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the dried blood on his shirt and she immediately rushed towards him. She led him to the couch slowly and set him down before sitting next to him, "What happened?"

He was almost tempted to keep it to himself and just warn Lana. It was his problem, not hers, "It's..."

She cupped his cheek with her right hand and made him face her, "Talk to me."

He did. Peter told her everything. She just listened patiently and held him close when his voice became shaky at the end. It was only now that it finally sunk in. Bullseye, the man who'd given up everything for him and died in agony, was back as nothing more than a weapon for the Hand. He was angry, but more than that he was sad. He didn't deserve this.

"I'm sorry." Gwen hugged him tightly. He closed his eyes and returned the gesture, ignoring the pain in his gut, "I wish I could do more."

"Being here's enough..."

"If I run into him I'll take him down. I can't help him, but we can stop him from hurting you or anyone else."

"Yeah..." He suddenly realized how exhausted he was. Peter closed his eyes and let Gwen's warmth lull him into a comfortable sleep. Maybe he'd get lucky and this would all be just a bad dream.

* * *

 **HardSoftHitter:** So real talk, what do you think Spider-Woman sees in Spider-Man? You'd think she'd go after someone like Hawkeye or something instead of the vigilante killer.

 **GrayHatHackerDude:**  Yo so we're all just gonna forget that Spider-Woman was a vigilante for a while there? Not surprised she goes for another vigilante.

 **HardSoftHitter:**  Yeah, but she never killed anyone 'cept that Carnage Killer fucker. Spider-Man's a killer, plain and simple.

 **JCJensen:**  So are the rest of the Avengers. Main difference is they've got government backing, and considering what we found out about SHIELD I'm not convinced they're much better.

 **HardSoftHitter:**  So you like a vigilante running around deciding who lives and dies?

 **JCJensen:**  No, but every person he ended up killing had a rap sheet a mile wide and he killed fucking demon in Times Square. I think he gets some more leeway than the guy who was running around killing homeless people.

 **Braidmaniac:**  Holy shit, a guy's actually doing that?! I thought that was a joke!

 **JCJensen:**   _Was_  doing that. Spider-Man ran into him earlier and broke his arms. Again, leeway.

 **EPFrog:**  Kinda agree with  **HardSoftHitter**. I think she'd be better with someone else.

 **No1SMManFan:** Agreed, leave some of that man meat for the rest of us. I bet he's little spoon :3

 **SpiderWomanMadeMeDoThis:**  First time I log on and this is the first thing I see. Already regretting this tweeter thing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone starts panicking: MJ and Matt interacting doesn't mean they're endgame pairing. I was going to have them interact regardless due to them both struggling with morality and having been possessed by monsters, which should allow them some juicy interactions. Also helps that Matt didn't spend all of V1 trolling MJ so she's less likely to be snippy and impatient with him.
> 
> I'm kinda wondering if people are gonna ship Matt/Karen more now that we saw a glimpse of what the real Karen Page is like. Probably not considering Karuth is still the main entity in control but you never know.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Big question: I'm considering making a prequel oneshot with Moon Knight as the lead during his fight against Murdock. It'd have a very Gotham vibe and I can show off some different characters like a young and active George Stacy, 10 year old Peter and Gwen, 13 year old Felicia Hardy, Evil Cindy when she still worked for SHIELD, a much more egotistical and fashionista Wasp, Wilson Fisk during his height as the Kingpin, and an evil, pre-possession Matt.
> 
> Would you guys be interested in this? I am but I'd like to hear you guys' thoughts.
> 
> 2\. What do you guys think of Peter and Cindy's current personalities? I'm not planning to change them, but I wonder if you guys like Noir being (relatively) nicer and more open. Ditto Cindy being less childish and turning into an older, more cynical and even sometimes seductive character. This is pretty different from how people know them in canon.
> 
> Cindy especially since a friend commented that she seemed more like Felicia given her recent behavior.
> 
> 3\. Does anyone think Gwen's relationship with Peter makes her a tad hypocritical given that she's a straight laced hero dating an anti-hero? It reminds me of some readers criticizing Spidey for webbing up purse snatchers but letting Felicia run free with at most a slight reprimand.


	16. Another, another dimension (Mayday Omake part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spider-Girl/Mayday Parker omake/side-story for Nerdman3000 as a thank you for his constant help like making the cover page, a tvtropes page and forum troubles. It was supposed to be a oneshot but since I wanted more extensive interactions between the cast and Mayday I ended up splitting it into a two-shot.
> 
> This is technically 'canon' for the fic despite being an omake since it takes place after the end of the last chapter. OTOH if you don't like it this two-parter is more or less self contained and can be skipped with little issue. If you do like Spider-Girl, then I hope you like this as well :)
> 
> Not sure if the next chapter will be part 2 or not. Depends on where my mood takes me and how the audience likes this one.
> 
> Side Note - The choice for Peter's power ups is kinda complicated so I'll make a poll on my fanfiction profile (same account name) after posting this chapter. There you can choose which power-up you want him to have - Web-swinging/wall-crawling, more scientific/magical/demonic gadgets or more mystical abilities (someone suggested shadow spider legs devil trigger).

"This is the place..."

May 'Mayday' Parker, better known to the city at large as Spider-Girl, crouched at the edge of the building and looked down at the 'abandoned' warehouse. Doctor Octopus - sometimes known as Lady Octopus for those who knew the original Doc Ock - was using it as a base for her nefarious evildoings. According to the scattered witness testimonies she managed to catch a 'buncha metal arms' were seen around the area and from there it wasn't hard to narrow down where she was staying.

"What are you doing here, doc...?" She jumped and swung to the side wall of the warehouse and crawled up slowly. The last time Mayday'd run into the tentacled woman was when she and Canis were making a power play for the criminal underworld. Turned out she was working for Black Tarantula, but somehow she was in bed - hopefully not literally, cause gross - with the would-be wolf man again. At the very least that was what she figured considering they broke out of prison together about 4 days ago.

Her phone beeped and she answered it without looking at the screen, "Kinda busy here," she whispered.

"Where are you?" Darkdevil's all too familiar baritone came from the other end.

"Just about to ruin Lady Octopus and Canis' jailbreak honeymoon." She flipped inside through a slightly ajar window and landed on a high shelf with a quiet crouch. Place was dark and abandoned, but she her spider-sense was thrumming. They were here, "Listen, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Wait, I'm on my way over-"

Her phone suddenly died. Mayday looked down at the suddenly black screen and furrowed her brows. Yep, that was  _totally_  normal. She put it back into her webshooter compartment -  _Thank you, Normie_  - and flipped down to the floor, "Hmm..." Spider-sense was leading her to the left. She knelt down and traced the faint marks on the floor. Twenty bucks said secret door.

"Come on, come on. Secret door, come to mama..." Mayday traced the lines to the end when she saw the slightly raised edge. She grinned, "Jackpot." She lifted it up slowly and quietly and jumped up to the ceiling of the staircase leading downwards. Just needed to get Ock and Canis back to prison then make it back home before dad got worried and April used it to needle her again.

The stairs led to a sealed metal door. Mayday shot a line of webbing and yanked it back only for the door to fall down to the ground, "Crap!" She webbed it up before it could crash down and left it hanging inches from hitting the ground, "Too close." She continued to crawl through the hallway and stopped when she heard two voices - a loud man and a calm woman - talking. Canis and Ock.

Mayday peeked over the empty doorframe. The room inside was huge and circular, easily able to fit dozens of people with room to spare. At the center of the room was a large, circular device made out of a mesh of metal and disjointed wiring. Her eyes traced the path of the large, bulky wires attached to multiple power boxes on the walls. That'd probably explain the frequent blackouts.

And then there were the two occupants.

"I don't see the point of this plan." Canis leaned forward on his chair with a scowl. He was lacking his usual suit combo in favor of a hoodie and a pair of jeans and muddy boots. It looked odd on him.

"I've already explained it multiple times, dear Canis. If you don't 'see the point' that's hardly my fault." Doc Ock crooned (ick). Unlike Canis she looked to be in tip top shape: same green jumpsuit, same tentacles, same bad haircut. She didn't even turn to look at Canis' seething haunch and continued to tweak with the machine, humming a tune casually as she did.

"Yes, and this plan - if you can even call it that - is utter stupidity." Canis growled, "I understand we need resources, but-"

"But what? Do you have any secret vaults full of gold that the authorities haven't raided yet? If so, please do tell!" Canis seethed and said nothing, "That's what I thought. You wish to take over the criminal underworld again? Then you need resources, resources that we cannot take here because if either of us take so much as a single step outside we'll have all those Avengers brats on us. Or worse, Spider-Girl."

_'Aww, that's so flattering.'_ She climbed up to the (weirdly high) roof of the chamber and did another quick scan of the room. No windows, no other doors out...place felt like a prison cell. Canis rubbed a hand through his beard and glared at Ock's back, "And how do I know I can trust you, Carolyn? You've betrayed me once already, what's stopping you from doing so again?"

Once again she didn't bother to turn around, "Again with this? If you so distrust me the door is right there," One of her tentacles pointed to the door lazily, "You're a businessman, Canis. Allying myself with the Black Tarantula was the most expedient and profitable option at the time, as allying with you is now. If you're asking for a blood oath and a swear of loyalty then you're looking at the wrong woman. I see a mutual benefit in our cooperation and that is the basis of this exchange.

"And how do you know I won't betray you, then?"

"Because I'm useful. You are a pragmatic man, dear Canis, and what I offer you now is something no one else can give. Not unless you fancy the idea of fighting your way through all those Avengers and incurring the wrath of their allies."

_It was a portal,_  Mayday thought. Doc Ock was trying to make a portal. Not good. There was a reason the Avengers rarely ever used theirs - tearing a hole through space time wasn't like taking the bus. She had to shut it down.

Canis suddenly stiffened and sniffed the air. He looked up to where she was and narrowed his eyes,  _'Guess we're doing this.'_ She webbed Canis' mouth shot and swung down to kick him into the wall when her spider-sense suddenly blared. Mayday flipped through the air and just barely avoided the sweeping tentacle that would've hit her mid-section.

"Spider-Girl. Come to interfere again?" Doc Ock snarled.

"You know me, Doc. Always keep up with my doctors appointments." Canis tore off the web from his mouth and charged towards her, teeth bared and clawed hands raised. Mayday flipped over his charge and kicked him into the corner wall, "Kinda busy here, Canis-"

Spider-sense.

Moving on instinct, Mayday flipped backwards to avoid the stabbing tentacle only for another on to grab her left leg and slam her against the ground face first. Mayday twisted and made to fire some web at Ock's face before another tentacle wrapped itself around her arms in a tight grip, "Urk, too tight, Doc! Safe word, safe word!" Had to find a way out before it was too late. Her eyes looked around frantically till she saw sparking fuse box close by.

"Always with the jokes, hm?" Another tentacle wrapped itself around her neck and  _squeezed._ Mayday choked and coughed as Ock raised her upright in the air, "I'm going to enjoy this."

_'Now!'_ She twisted her palm and shot a line of electric webbing at the exposed fuse box. A sudden loud whirring sounded through the entire chamber and she was almost blinded by the swirling blue light that came from the portal, "You fool, I haven't finished calibrating it yet!" Ock turned back to the portal and the grip of the tentacles slackened.

Mayday pried the tentacles off and jumped into the nearby wall, "You know it's not nice to play with portals!" She shot two lines and webbed to the ground and launched herself at Ock. Two tentacles blocked the kick, but the impact was enough to knock her back close to the portal, "Whadda say you two turn yourselves in? I'll even tell the police they'll give you time off for good behavior!"

"I am never going back inside!" Canis roared from behind her. Mayday jumped to avoid Canis' second charge and he rammed into Ock like a full bore rhino. Ock stumbled back again one of her arms slammed against one of the pillars holding the device upright. The whirring sound became louder and Mayday's spider-sense screamed before the bright blue light engulfed her vision.

* * *

**PhysicsBoi** : Anyone else see that blue portal open up over Times Square?

**Bladewolf** : Blue portal? Lol someone's been smoking a bit too much.

**PhysicsBoi:**  Legit. Saw a blue portal and like three people shoot out of it. Teleporter accident?

**AairMaster:**  Think it's a portal to another dimension? Spinerette did say she was from a different one.

**Bladewolf:**  Pfft what are the chances of that?

**AairMaster:**  As much as an alien invasion.

**PhysicsBoi:**  Lol.

* * *

When Mayday opened her eyes again she was free-falling through the air at terminal velocity.

"Woah, woah, woah!" She stumbled through the air in a panic and rapidly tapped her webshooters, only to be met with a clicking sound, "Come on, come on! Don't jam now!" She fiddled with the webshooter as the ground drew closer and closer. She knew she was strong, but jumping out of double skyscraper height and landing on the pavement would end with her being a spider-pancake.

She was about 50 feet from the ground when a web finally sputtered out to the nearby building, "Yes!" The web pulled taut and she grunted from the shooting pain that went up her arm. Even for her that hurt. Mayday let go of the web, spun on a nearby horizontal flagpole then landed on the street. She was not proud to admit she skidded butt-first on the ashphalt.

...And people were staring at her. Great.

Mayday looked up at the crowds of stunned civilians and raised her hand in a cheery wave as she stood, "What's up, folks? Uh...would any of you have happened to see a really hairy guy in a hoodie and a woman in a green jumpsuit with four tentacles? They're pretty hard to miss."

Amazingly, an old woman actually answered and pointed to the south behind her, "They went that way. If they're Supervillains give them a good kickin!"

"Heh...will do, lady." Mayday threw her a thumbs up and jumped in preparation to swing only for the webshooter to click dully again. She landed on the ground and looked down at the metal bracelets with a frown. Whatever that portal did it wrecked her webshooters. Her dad was gonna  _kill_  her when she got back from...wherever the heck this place was.

Mayday took a second to catch her breath and took a look around. Place looked like Times Square...but not really. Different signs, higher buildings, even a different hotdog guy. Old Stan was selling dogs for decades and he was never gonna die, "Okay, so...I'm guessing I'm in another dimension," she mumbled. Made the most sense. Portal activated and took her to another reality. No prob. She'd stop Ock and Canis, find this world's Fantastic 4 and borrow a portal to get back. She'd been through this rodeo before.

She was just about to run - so  _weird_  to not having webbing - when two young women suddenly came up to her, "Man, this is why I love New York!" They both posed next to her with peace signs while the more heavyset of the trio raised her camera phone to take a pic. Mayday was too stunned by the suddenness of it to say anything, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Uh...Spider-Girl." Tentatively considering a change to Spider-Woman, but Stinger suggested she wait till she was old enough to drive before making a swap. Sometimes it sucked being 15.

The blonde furrowed her brows, "Uh, no, there's  _already_  a Spider-Girl. You can't be both Spider-Girl!"

Yeah...definitely another dimension. Oh well, at least she knew there were Spiders her, "Listen, I don't have time for this. Sorry." She stepped past them and, with a deep breath, broke out into a run. She wasn't used to running on street level, but she could deal. Mayday slipped past the crowds and automatically bypassed the newspaper stands and cars in her way. Those parkour lessons with Darkdevil really paid off...even if the guy was a jerk about it.

She heard screaming coming from the right. That was probably them. Mayday run up the closest building, flipped to the roof and narrowed her eyes at the scene below. Doc Ock was rampaging through the streets without a care, two tentacles propelling her forward while another held onto an unconscious Canis. He was still breathing, which was a small relief. She didn't want the guy dead, after all.

She was about to cut in when another figure landed on a nearby lamppost. Mayday wasn't ashamed to admit she just gawked. She'd seen her dad's old costume before but one was nothing like it. The woman - another surprise - wore a black, white, pink and teal ensemble with a hood securely attached to her head. Still, the way she balanced on top of the post made it clear she was another Spider.

"Hey, I hate to say this, but you're kinda causing a disturbance. If you're not a new Supervill maybe we could just chat and make sure we don't have any misunderstandings?"

Doc Ock threw a car at her. The other Spider dodged and Mayday jumped from the building to charge at her. She was inches from jumping on the mad scientist's back when one of the legs keeping her upright suddenly launched forward towards her, "Too close!" She leapfrogged over the metal appendage as the Spider-Woman(Girl?) shot two lines of webbing Doc Ock's face.

Ock raised Canis like a shield. Mayday almost felt sorry when the guy's entire face was suddenly covered in white, "Woah, that's cold, lady!" The black and white Spider quipped.

Mayday scrambled back to gather her bearings and the Spider-Woman landed next to her with a crouch, "Take it you know this one?" she asked.

"Yeah, long story. Name's Spider-Girl, by the way."

"You know someone already-"

"I know. Like I said, long story."

Ock looked between them and puckered her lips like she'd swallowed something sour, "Of all the dimensions to land in. Hmph, I don't have time for this." Mayday's spider-sense rang just before something detached from the harness at Ock's back and surged towards them like a missile.

"Get down!" Mayday pushed Spider-Woman out of the way and the projectiles soared past them before suddenly exploding. A bright light engulfed her vision and there was a painful ringing in her ears. The sudden blind and deaf state lasted for a few painful seconds and when she finally got the first bearing of sight again she found the whole street abandoned with Ock nowhere in sight.

Next to her, Spider-Woman groaned and shook her head, "Ah crap, that smarts...!" Her costume...moved and she rubbed her eyes as she stood, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Actually thought it'd be worse." Mayday rubbed away the last traces of bright spots in her vision and sighed. Chasing after Ock was probably a no-go now without her webshooters. Ock wouldn't be dumb enough to draw attention again, not with a Spider here.

Speaking of...

Mayday gave the other girl a sideways glance. She seemed fine, though her costume occasionally thrummed. Weird, but so far it seemed like she was a hero. Good, she really didn't like going to dimensions where heroes were villains. Just made things too confusing. And sad.

Spider-Woman suddenly pulled a phone out of...somewhere and pressed it against her ear, "Yeah, Pete? No, I'm still going. Just got distracted. No, not Koalla Kommander. I'll tell ya later." She cut the call, "Sorry, but I really gotta go. Take care of yourself, 'kay?"

"A-Ah, wait!" Mayday held up both hands, "Actually I could really use your help! I'm...not from here."

"Out of towner, huh? Well, if you wanna tour I'm not sure how much help I'd be."

"No, it's not that. It's..." Mayday took a deep breath and considered her next words, "I know you might not believe me, but I'm from another dimension." Spider-Woman crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side without saying a word, "I know crazy that sounds, but-"

"Not really." Spider-Woman cut in casually, "You know what, I actually believe you. Gut instinct, I guess. But we should probablyy save the explanation when we're somewhere more private."

Mayday nodded and followed after Spider-Woman...or at least she tried to considering her webshooters were busted. Spider-Woman looked back at her mid-swing and swung back around, "What's wrong?"

"My webshooters are busted. Going through the portal wrecked em somehow." She didn't check yet, but she was pretty sure her phone was fried too. Not that it mattered; she didn't have a call plan in whatever dimension this was.

"Oh. Well, I could do a side-along if it's not too embarassing?"

"Sure. Better than the time I had to use my friend's glider."

Mayday held on tightly and just let Spider-Woman carry her along with one hand. It wasn't the first time she'd done this, but usually she was the swinger not the holder. Still, she couldn't deny there was something almost relaxing about not having to be the one to pick the directions to go to or the running out of webfluid. If she wasn't currently trapped in an alternate dimension with two of her Supervillains it might've been fun.

Spider-Woman stopped at relatively small building rooftop. Mayday separated from her and awkwardly smiled under her mask when she caught the masked figure in black with a pizza box next to him on the vent, "Hey. Didn't realize you were bringing company." His voice was rough, but artificially so. She'd tried growling to scare criminals before to know a fake voice when she heard it.

"This is Spider-Girl. She's from another dimension...uh, not the same as you know who, so  _another_  another dimension. She's a friend, so you can stop with the growly voice there."

"Uh, hey." Mayday stepped forward and offered him a hand, "Nice to meet you, uh..."

"Spider-Man." His voice was softer now...and oddly familiar. Mayday looked him up and down and shook her head. He said Spider-Man, but she doubted he was a version of her dad. Too edgy looking, "...I know this seems like an odd choice, but try and punch me in the face. And make sure it's an actual hit. "

"What, why?!"

"Just roll with it." Spider-Woman said.

She looked between the two of them and, after a moment of hesitation, punched him right in the jaw with a quick right hook. Spider-Man stumbled back slightly and rubbed his face through his mask, "Oh crap, I'm sorry! Are you hurt? I-"

"It's fine. Just needed to be sure." He shook his head and let out a soft breath, "Needed to know if you were another Spider or someone trying to plant something. Spider-sense doesn't warn me about other Spiders, so I know you're real."

"It doesn't? Good to know." Hopefully she never ran into any evil alternate Spider-People (again) any time soon, "So yeah...alternate dimension Spider stuck in this place cause I couldn't stop my Doc Ock from making a portal and now I'm trapped here and they're going on a rampage." He made a small noise at that but said nothing, Speaking of, we  _are_  in New York, right? Just wanna make sure."

"Yeah, the Big Apple in all its glory. I was confused too when I first got here," Spider-Man said.

"Wait, you're from another dimension too?"

"That's...a bit of a long story, but close enough. I'm not really an 'expert' on it, though. Kinda just fumbled around." He stood and looked to Spider-Woman, "We should call Cin and the others."

"Sure. We can meet up at my place."

"You sure? What about your secret identity?"

"She's from another dimension, I'm sure we're good." Spider-Woman shrugged.

"I think you're being a bit too trusting..."

"I actually kinda agree with him," Mayday added, "Okay, um...how about I take off my mask first and tell you my name? That way it's a give and take?"

"You don't have to, but...sure. Again, let's do it at my place."

She didn't bother arguing the point and just let Spider-Woman carry her back to the apartment. She felt guilty leaving Spider-Man behind, but apparently he didn't like doing the side-along thing so it was a win-win all around. For Spider-Woman's sake, and her own guilt, Mayday made sure to keep her eyes closed the entire way there. She'd been on the other end of the secret identity gig long enough to have a healthy paranoia.

Mayday opened her eyes when Spider-Woman slowed down, "We're here." Mayday nodded in affirmative and jumped into the nearby wall so Spider-Woman could crawl through the window first. Mayday came in after her and looked around the room. It was small and cozy, not unlike her own. Maybe Spiders just liked the same things? She wasn't feeling the hood, though. Felt really impractical.

"Nice place."

"Yep. Casa de Spider-Woman. Not a mansion, but it works." She led her outside into the kitchen and picked up two sodas from the fridge, "Others'll be here soon."

"Cool." Mayday put her mask up to her nose and took a sip before almost spitting it out. Spider-Woman looked at her in worry, "I-I'm fine, just...didn't expect it to be so sweet."

"Yeah, Pete and Cin are the same. I never get it."

"Pete..." She called him that before, but Mayday thought she might've misheard, "So...weird question, but Pete wouldn't happen to stand for Peter Parker, would it? With a Benjamin at the middle."

"Yeah. You know him back in your place?"

"You...You could say that." Great, another alternate version of her dad. The first one she met was a teenager who flirted with her and the other one was a Supervillain who mind controlled Superheroes. And honestly she couldn't tell which was worse, "Hey, really long shot here, but are you maybe Mary Jane Pa-uh,  _Watson_  under that mask? Just throwing out names here."

"No, but MJ's one of my best friends." She sipped her own soda, "You gonna explain how you know em or are we gonna go through my entire headbook list?"

What the heck was headbook? Shaking her head, Mayday opened her mouth to reply before the door suddenly opened behind her, "Yo, Gwencent, I got your message." Mayday turned to the all-too familiar voice and froze. It was her. Same bright red hair, same light freckles on her cheeks. Mary Jane Parker, her mom. Except she was young, just a few years older than Mayday's own 16, and dressed way different than the sweatpants and t-shirt combo her own mom wore. Now she was in a pair of torn legging, hot pink shorts, brown boots and a white tank-top that exposed her freckled shoulders.

It was like seeing your mom trying to be hip only ten times worse cause it actually worked.

Mom- Mary Jane stopped when she saw her, "Uh...new friend?"

"Yeah. This is Spider-Girl, she came here from another dimension."

Oddly enough, Mary Jane just rolled her eyes, "Right, so is she  _actually_  from another dimension or does she just think that?"

"Kinda leaning towards the former. Someone took a vid of that blue portal opening over Times Square." She still had no idea exactly how Ock managed to survive that fall with Canis in tow, though she chalked that up to those tentacles. If she wasn't so evil Mayday would've been impressed, "Either way she needs help and Spiders stick together. That and she knew who you were before you even came in, so..."

"Maybe she's a Mary Janes fan?" The redhead grinned and sat on the couch. It looked way too familiar, "So does this Spider-Girl have a name? Cause I'm kinda feeling naked being the only one without a mask here."

"Let's wait for the others so we don't have to keep repeating."

The last three arrived soon enough. The first two - a brunette teen who looked about the same age as her and an Asian teenager in a sleek outfit - she didn't recognize. The third was...Peter. He looked different. Different hair color, a stubble instead of a goatee, and a noticeable lack of a cane and 20 years worth of wrinkles, but it was definitely still him. The last time she'd seen her dad so young he had a flat top and dressed like someone going to the debate team.

"What's the sitch, Spider-Gwen?" The brunette teen asked. Mayday furrowed her brows. Spider- _Gwen?_  Was that how she called herself?

Spider-Gwen sat on the chair next to Mary Jane and Mayday took the one next to her, "First we should probably introduce ourselves. This is Spider-Girl, she's been trapped in our dimension because of a mad scientist supervillain with an octopus motif."

"This seems familiar..." Peter - God that felt weird to say - muttered, "Name's Peter Parker, by the way."

"Well as someone who's been there done that, I say welcome to this little slice of insanity we have here," the Asian girl quipped, "You can call me Cindy."

"Lana," The brunette teen added lazily.

"And you already know MJ." Spider-Gwen took off her mask and exposed a head of blonde hair and an eerily familiar face, "Gwen Stacy. Since you know Pete and MJ I'm guessing you know me too?"

Mayday couldn't say anything and just looked down at the floor. This was crazy. Her mom and dad who looked barely older than she was and her dad's greatest regret all sitting in the same room like nothing was wrong. Mayday looked at the three in turn and steeled herself, "Yeah, I do." She took off her mask and did her best to smile, "My name's May Parker, but my friends call me Mayday."

The name Parker seemed to jolt all of them. Cindy's eyes narrowed slightly while Gwen's, Mary Jane's and Lana's went almost comically wide. Peter just looked away and made a noise. Mayday sunk into her seat and blew out a small breath. This was not the best first impression.

Eventually Spider-Gwen managed to speak up, "So...does that mean you're like a version of Aunt May except way younger?"

"No, at least I don't think so? Do you mean the Aunt May who was married to Uncle Ben?" Spider-Gwen nodded, "Then...no, she's my grand-aunt. Grandma, really, since she was the one who raised dad."

She practically saw all the pieces line into place. Cindy laughed under her breath while Peter made another noise and stood to get some food from the fridge. Lana spoke up to cut through the heavy silence, "Figures that we get someone from another dimension and they end up being your and Pete's kid," she said to Spider-Gwen with a sigh. Mayday just looked uncomfortable as the words sank in.

"So...you two are together?" She asked the blonde while pointing between her and Peter.

"Yeah. Why, is it weird seeing your dad so young?" Spider-Gwen asked back with an awkward smile.

"Uh...okay, so I'l just say this straight out because I don't it to be awkward later. He's my dad and...she's my mom." Mayday pointed towards the oddly quiet redhead. Mary Jane just looked at her for a few seconds before she jumped clean off the couch.

"Wh-What?!"

"Yeah...if you're Mary Jane Watson, then that means your counterpart back in my dimension is my mom." This was why she didn't stay to chat when she got stuck in alternate universes. Always made things awkward.

"Huh, that's...well that's something," Spider-Gwen said blankly, "So...any idea where I'm at in your place?"

"You're...dead." Okay, maybe not the best way to start off, but this was a weird situation all around. Mayday continued before the other Spider could cut in, "You-uh, my world's Gwen Stacy and dad dated when they were both in college and...things went bad when a bad guy called the Green Goblin got involved." Peter muttered something under his breath, "He found out about dad's secret identity and he figured that he could use her to lure him to a trap."

"Wait, so Peter- your dad was Spider-Man?" Cindy asked.

"Yeah, he gave up the mask years ago but back then he was Spider-Man." And he still had it whenever he put on the mask again, "There was a fight at the George Washington bridge and Gwen Stacy...she didn't make it." She didn't want to tell them exactly what happened. Her dad still lived with the guilt of it, the guilt of everyone he couldn't save.

"So I'm...dead in another universe. That's...interesting." She looked to Peter and he just sighed softly and shook his head. There was definitely something there that they hadn't been open with.

Peter scoffed, "Should've known Osborn would be trouble."

"Peter, it's a different dimension. Harry wouldn't do that here," Gwen replied.

"Harry? No, no, it was his dad Norman." That got her a few odd looks, "...Harry Osborn did take up the Goblin mask and fight my dad, but Norman was the one who did that." And a bunch of horrible things to her, her dad and April.

"Alright, so you're telling us the CEO of Oscorp went around as a Supervillain? ...Yeah, I can totally see that," Lana shrugged , "Anyway, I stand corrected. Apparently Pete got busy with Jane. Sorry, Spider-Gwen."

"Wh-What are you apologizing for? It's a different dimension!" she shot back hotly.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Lana tapped her shoulder and hummed sympathetically, which was more than a little disturbing considering she just finished telling them that Gwen Stacy was dead back home. "So, am I dead back in your place too?"

"Uh...I don't know. I don't know you and Cindy, sorry."

"Eh, bet I died to Carter without Pete watching my back," she said, oddly lax. Peter threw her a dirty look and slapped the back of her head, "Hey, careful! I have no clue if I'll blow up if you hit me now that I got these new powers!"

"Then stop saying things like that," he shot back.

"B-Back on topic," Spider-Gwen said, "Mayday's currently stuck here and she needs our help. Why don't we start from the beginning again, 'Day?" 'Day'? Well, it wasn't the worst nickname she'd heard.

"Right, okay..." She told them everything. Ock and Canis' jailbreak, finding them in the warehouse, that portal malfunctioning, then ending up here. None of them were surprised except for maybe Mary Jane. Apparently people from alternate dimensions ending up here wasn't that weird or uncommon. It helped her forget the prior awkwardness, at least.

"So we need to be on the lookout for an old lady with tentacles and a really hairy dude," Cindy said, "I'll talk to the other officers at the precinct so we can get an APB out on these guys. I'll call Daisy too and see if we can borrow their portal. S.H.I.E.L.D should still have theirs somewhere." Police? S.H.I.E.L.D? How did a teenager know them enough that she could call in favors like that?

"I'll go talk to Nor and Gabe, too. They can probably dig something up," Lana added.

"Me, Peter and MJ'll search around with Mayday tomorrow. I need to swing by Wasp's later so we can borrow a pair of spare webshooters." Mayday didn't disagree. She wanted to be out there right now, but she couldn't cover much ground without her webs. Besides, she was exhausted. Lana and Cindy said their goodbyes, leaving just the four of them.

"Guess you're staying here for now." Spider-Gwen stood up and stretched, "Couch good?"

"Sure." Mayday smiled, "Uh...do you all live here?"

"Yeah. Well, Peter's not on the lease technically, but the landlord didn't look twice when I paid him."

"Should really have let me do that, Gwen..." Peter said softly.

"It's cool. Not like I'm buying sports cars or anything."

* * *

**Imrightbehindyou:**  Another day, another spider hero. Why are there so many of them?

**TheCollector:**  Agreed. We need more insect based heroes besides Wasps and Spiders. Where my Mosquito Man at?!

**SmileyGuy:**  Killed by the world's biggest flyswatter :P

**FactBot:**  Daily reminder that spiders are arachnids, not insects. Thank you.

**TheCollector:**  Bad Bot.

**Imrightbehindyou:**  Seriously, though, it's fucking weird how many of them there are. People saw this new chick and Spider-Woman working together. At least have more male spider people!

**SmileyGuy:**  Man, Jameson's gonna freak when he finds out...

**FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:**  Spider-Girl - yes, we know someone else has that name - is only visiting. If anyone sees an old woman with metal tentacles or a guy covered in fur please notify us. Thanks :)

**EPFrog:** I'll keep an eye out!

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  Keep it in your pants, frog boy...

* * *

She couldn't sleep.

Mayday stared up at the dark ceiling blankly and sighed. It was almost midnight now and Spider-Gwen (and Peter, who went with her) still hadn't come back from visiting Wasp. Idly, Mayday wondered how her family was doing now. She always made sure to at least send a text if she was staying up past her normal curfew. As far as they knew she'd gone to fight Ock and just didn't come back.

Shaking her head, Mayday sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the couch. She couldn't think about them, not now. She'd just worry herself sick, "Damn..." She took a deep breath and stood, grabbing the jacket from the nearby table. Gwen had lent her some of her old clothes and they were close enough in size that she felt comfortable in them.

She needed to clear her head.

Mayday put on the jacket and a pair of shoes and walked out. The night air was chilly and she shrunk into the fabric. The place was...different. The buildings were way higher than what she was used to and the neon everywhere...oh man, the  _neon_. It was giving her a headache just looking at them. How did everyone live in a world like this? Diabetes made out of pure sugar and neon lighting bright enough to make your head explode.

Eventually her attention was drawn elsewhere, "Avengers..." She stopped and looked at the billboard. She recognized Spider-Gwen and Cindy, but the other four were strangers...sort of. She recognized the Captain America and Wasp uniform and green woman looked like some of the old pictures of She-Hulk she remembered, but the archer in purple wearing shades was a complete unknown.

They weren't the only ones. Every few blocks she passed she saw an ad with one of the six Avengers or billboards about the Initiative program. She heard about it from her dad. Apparently back then Tony Stark tried to license superheroes. Good idea in theory, but in practice it ended up falling flat. Apparently this universe ended up making it work.

Still, she couldn't help but notice how female oriented the heroes here were, both in the billboards and the ones she met back in Spider-Gwen's apartment. Not that she minded, a hero was a hero, but it was kind of new to her. Usually it was the other way around.

She stopped when she saw it. A black and white billboard with her dad's picture on the left and giant, bolded words: STOP THE SPIDER-WOMAN. CALL 1-555-FOR-PETER. CASH SUM REWARD. It was heavily vandalized with a Spider-Woman mask painted on the side with pink coloration and the word's 'WHOSE RESPONSIBLE?' next to it. Her dad's picture was drawn over clumsily with a drawing of a lizard.

It stuck out from all the hero and corporate ads she ran into and she found herself drawn to it. Mayday walked to a nearby alley and, after making sure no one was around, took off the shoes and climbed to the top of the building. She put the shoes back on when she got to the top and continued to stare at the billboard. What the hell did it mean? Spider-Gwen seemed to be popular so, this didn't make any sense.

"Gwen hates that billboard." Mayday jumped and turned to the source of the new voice. She almost didn't recognize her because of the costume, but the long red hair spilling out the mask and the muffled but still recognizable voice clued her in quickly enough, "She's been trying to get it taken down, but a lot of people like it and are paying to keep it up. Reminds them of how much she struggled back then. Adds to the heroic feel, you know?"

"Mo- Mary Jane." Mayday looked her up and down, "I...didn't know you followed me." Or that she had powers. Sure, she heard Spider-Gwen say she'd help them look around, but she figured she'd ask around like her mom would've done.

"I didn't. I saw you crawling up the building when I was swinging around. You really need to be more careful." She lowered her mask and smiled, "Come on let's get up top. The view's killer."

Mayday could only nod mutely and followed her up. Mary Jane offered her a hand when she got to the top and Mayday took it gratefully, "New York city in all its glory." Mary Jane sat down and, without any kind of warning, her costume changed. The sleek jacket suddenly sprouted a hood and her red hair became short enough that she could cover her face with the hood.

"How did..."

"Part of my 'perks'." A snake-like  _thing_  jutted out of her shoulder and looked up at her with a toothy grin. Mayday's eyes widened and she stepped back, almost falling off the billboard entirely in her shock. She knew what it was.

"That's...That's the Carnage symbiote."

The red, pulsating thing  _laughed_ ,  ** _"Huh, looks like we do get a better name at one point."_** Mayday shuddered. It had her voice, but it was distorted and twisted to something inhuman.

"How do you know Crimson?"

"I..." Should she say it? Moose still hadn't forgiven Spider-Girl for it despite her knowing it was the right thing to do, "I killed it. Back in my world it used to be attached to a mass murderer called Cletus Kasady." Then Moose, then Benjy. She still hated that Benjy lost his hearing because of that damn gun. Thank God it was only temporary, "It tried to kill a lot of innocent people. I didn't have a choice."

The 'snake' suddenly growled up at her while Mary Jane smiled wryly, "Hah, that's two for two. Least your mom didn't end up getting attached to it." The snake sunk back into her shoulder and Mary Jane patted the empty space to her left, "You just gonna keep standing there?"

Mayday sat next to her awkwardly and just...looked at her. It was so odd. Despite the decades of difference she still saw her mom there, but she was different. Colder, more tired despite her younger years, "Why is it with you?"

"Crimson? That's...a long story and I don't wanna get into it. Fact of the matter is that I can't pry it off without turning my body into a fleshy coffin and I'm not brave enough to to make the sacrifice play. So I just...live with it. We leave with each other, really." She smiled again. It looked fake, "It's been getting better, but we still have our moments."

"...I'm sorry." She thought of Benjy again. And April. More than a few times she wondered if being attached to a symbiote was part of the reason she'd been so unstable for a while. Saving her from that warehouse fire seemed to have calmed her down, but even now she wondered if one day her sister would snap and they'd have to go through Mayhem all over again.

"It's not your fault. Besides, I've helped people here and there. I'm not a real Superhero like Gwencent, but it's something." She put her right leg up and hugged it close to her, "So...in your world me and Tiger ended up together?" She stared straight on ahead and Mayday couldn't see her expression, but her voice was enough. Soft and wistful with just a bit of hope.

"Yeah..." Mayday smiled at the thought of her parents. Over 20 years of marriage and still as strong as the day they started, "Did you two ever..."

"What, me and Tiger? Nah, he always had eyes for Gwencent." She didn't sound frustrated, just...sad, "Then again that's something we both share."

"Wait, what do you..." Mayday's eyes widened, "Do you mean that you-"

"Like both him and Gwen? Yeah." She finally turned to look at her and Mayday saw the teasing smile on her face. Mayday didn't know what to say and just kept quiet, "Pretty weird, huh? Then again life hasn't been normal for a while now. I'm not expecting anything, if you're curious. The two of them can be lovey dovey and I'm happy for them. They're two of the closest friends I have."

"Wow..." Her mom and dad's heads would have  _exploded_  if they found out about this, "I feel like now's a good time to say this isn't the first time I ran into another version of my dad."

"Who was that one going out with?"

"Betty Brant." Mary Jane's smile was replaced with a look of utter confusion, "Yeah, I was pretty surprised too. Oh, and Liz Allan liked him." Kinda awkward considering Aunt Liz was Normie's mom.

"Betty and Liz? Christ, the multiverse is a weird place" She took out a packet of gum from one of her jacket pockets and offered one to Mayday, which she accepted, "Not gonna lie, I think you freaked Gwencent out when you told her about the whole 'you died' thing."

"Yeah...sorry about that."

"She'll move on. Least it wasn't Peter who died." Mayday's brows furrowed at the way she said that.

"What do you mean by that? Your Peter's alive, isn't he?"

"Wasn't always." She gestured to her right to the spraypainted Lizard picture, "Tiger was dead for two years. He was bullied back in high school and he wanted to get back at everyone so he made this serum that he thought would give him superpowers. Instead it turned him into a giant Lizard. Gwen stopped him but when the fighting was done Peter was dead and she was called a murderer. Police hunted her down for those two years."

"That's..." She didn't know the words. He'd died then come back? And the one he was with now was the one who killed him? It sounded insane even to her and she'd seen into Darkdevil's soul, "How is he back?"

"That's the complicated bit. Whatever gave him his powers brought him back last year with fucked up memories from a Spider-Man from another dimension. I don't think he's 'Peter Parker' anymore, least not the way Gwen remembers him, but she's fine with that. We all are. Helps that none of us were really close to him before he came back."

"Huh." An understated reaction, but she had no idea what else to say, "Back in my world my dad had two clones, but he considered them his brothers. Uncle Ben's the one whose costume I'm wearing now and Uncle Kaine helps me out when he can. I also have a sister, April. Green Goblin cloned one of us and we're not really sure who's the original. She's still kind of ticked about it."

"Clones? Now  _that's_  crazy." Mary Jane grinned lightly, "Anyway, we should be getting back. Don't want either of them to worry."

Mayday nodded and made stand before her spider-sense suddenly  _screamed_. A powerful, spasming pain coursed throughout her entire body and Mayday fell to the side, screaming all the while. Mary Jane screamed something, but Mayday couldn't hear her. She barely even felt the shooting impact when she landed on her right arm. Just barely she saw Mary Jane jump down and kneel by her side.

She curled in on herself with her eyes shut tight, just trying to hold off on screaming, when the pain suddenly ended. Mayday opened her eyes and gasped, grabbing for Mary Jane desperately and refusing to let go, "I'm here, Mayday. I'm here." Mayday hugged the redhead tightly and held her close. Her heart beat loudly against her ears.

They stayed that way for at least a couple of minutes before Mayday's heart finally calmed down and she loosened her grip on the older woman, "I...I'm okay." She wasn't. What in the hell was that? Mary Jane bit her lip and the mask covered her face again as she helped Mayday up.

"I...I think we need to see Wasp."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 done. The next part will be them trying to fix Mayday's glitching and finding both Lady Ock and Canis to bring them back to Earth-982 before they steal Earth-65 tech and make thngs worse for everyone.
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys liked this one. I'll admit I felt off writing Mayday cause she just felt too similar to Gwen. It's part of the reason why I changed Cindy around so she wasn't just 'Gwen without the preachiness', to quote some older reviewers. Something tells me Mayday wouldn't be too happy if she found out her alternate mom and dad have bodycounts...
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Does anyone find the ages of the protagonists weird? To recap Gwen and MJ are 21, Peter's 19, Lana's 17 and Cindy's 29. Cindy is the only one who seems like she would be viably old and experienced enough to do the things she does and I wonder if it jars people out. Especially Peter and Lana given how dark their segments tend to be.
> 
> 2\. I know it's a bit soon, but what do you guys think of non-possessed Karen from last chapter? I'm debating whether to put her into more segments when she's not bonded to Ruth. It might help contextualize her relationship to Matt and her own motivations.
> 
> 3\. More a curiosity thing, but would you guys want Peter and/or MJ to join the Initiative or Avengers? A big part of their appeal is their loner anti-heroism tendencies but adding them to those groups come with its own plot potential.


	17. Time passes, nothing changes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another mainline chapter rather than part 2 of the Mayday omake. Apologies for those looking forward to it. I'll post it at a later date.
> 
> Anyway, according to the previews Spider-Gwen will relaunch as Ghost Spider #1 on August with Gwen attending college in 616 while still living in Earth-65. Guess we can kiss E-65 baddies and plots goodbye now that Gwen's in the 616 Spider pile. She's already fighting Arcade in September...

**Truther:**  So Spinerette is the alternate counterpart of Cindy Moon, the terrorist behind S.I.L.K. Anyone else find this really trippy?

**098012:**  It's the multiverse, dude. Remember that issue where Cap had to fight an evil version of Steve Rogers who worshiped HDYRA?

**Truther:**  Still fucking weird. Comic books are one thing, real life's another.

**EveningWood:**  Considering Spider-Man's a resurrected Peter Parker and he's dating the person who 'killed' him, I'm not surprised. Watch and wait, Spider-Woman's gonna be like Mary Jane Watson or Sally Avril or Gwen Stacy or something just to make it more ironic. They were all in Midtown and they all knew him.

**simpleandclean:**  Nah. I just went to a small  **Mary Janes**  concert a couple days ago and Spider-Woman was across town saving people when it happened. Not sure about Sally, though. What do we know about her?

**MJJackpot:**  Sally wouldn't donate a dollar if it could cure cancer. And hey, nice to know some people think I could be a superhero, cause I would totally stay with a band when I could be hanging out with the Avengers :/

**EveningWood:**  Just a theory, Watson. Gotta admit, it's weird that all these heroes are familiar names. Does Gwen Stacy have an opinion on her ex-best friend being Spider-Man?

**MJJackpot:**  She doesn't like to talk about it, obviously. Paps tried to hound her cause they thought she was an in with Spider-Man.

**EveningWood:**  Right, sorry. Anyway, you watching the Spider-Woman movie? Our class is watching it as a group :)

**MJJackpot:**  Hard pass. Too busy with my new job. Have fun with that totally true story, though.

* * *

Lana never liked going to Wasp's place.

Nothing against the senior hero, but she always found the idea of shrink tech to be pretty fucking creepy. Maybe it was cause Spider-Gwen nearly fell on her ass-first during her short Godzilla stint, or maybe she just found wasps and ants (and spiders, but she didn't tell Pete that) to be creepy little fucks. Either way she'd been kinda soured on her from the word go.

Being shrunk down didn't help that opinion. At all.

Lana leaned against the hardlight building and waited for Wasp to calibrate the 'city'. Apparently she did this a lot to help Spider-Gwen test the new powers she got from that blob snake thing. The brunette yawned and tried not to think about the fact that Wasp and her daughter could just step on her 2 inch tall ass right now and flush her remains down the toilet.

Fuck, she  _hated_  being small.

The road changed and Lana stepped off from the building. No cars, no fake people. Just a long strip of concrete, "Let's test your speed again." Lana nodded and took her position on the middle of the road. They'd been training with her powers for days now, just trying to find a way to make sure she didn't blow up her dorm room by mistake. That was the last thing she needed.

Lana took two steps before she was covered in a burst of light and she surged forward like Speed the Porcupine. She had to admit, despite her initial doubts these new powers were useful. She was way faster than before, and she could even run up buildings. No she didn't know why, and really she didn't care. She could run up fucking buildings! Eat it, Spider-Gwen!

She ran up the nearest building and made a three point landing on the center, "Ambush." Three hardlight gunmen with assault rifles appeared in front of her. Lana charged ahead and started punching and kicking. She was faster there too. Her fists glowed with yellow energy and the constructs stood no chance. Not that it mattered; Wasp made sure they fired blanks every time.

She dropkicked the last one over the edge of the roof just before another construct with a sniper rifle appeared on the opposite building, "Aim for the hands." She nodded and focused. Before her blasts were always explosive, always blowing things up. They still did, but now she could focus. She narrowed her eyes and aimed for the glowing blue hands.

The shot was fast and thin. The construct let go of the sniper rifle and she immediately blasted it in the face, "Well done." Lana shook her hands and and tapped the earpiece. This was her one lifeline back to normal sized land, "Is something the matter?"

"You thought about my last suggestion?" The suggestion being programming bullets into the constructs and letting them get a shot off. Not in her face or anything, she wasn't fucking crazy, but...in the arm or the leg or something. Just to see if that fast healing was still a thing.

She was quiet for a bit before she responded slowly, "I still have doubts. Asking to get shot is-"

"We need to be sure. I mean, I took a fucking shotgun to the face and I'm still alive." To emphasize her point she jumped off the building, which was a 40 feet drop from her perspective, and landed on the ground. It didn't hurt, "See? That should've broken both my legs and I'm still standing."

"I've told you before that part of your new abilities is kinetic dampening. It's the same reason why your new speed doesn't leave your skin raw."

"So that means bullets shouldn't be that much of a leap." Silence from the other end, "Look, I'm not asking to get shot with an anti-tank round or something. I just need to make sure that this healing thing is legit. You can make it a really weak bullet."

"Do I have to comment on how odd it is that a teenager is asking and listing the benefits of getting shot?" Wasp sighed, "Fine, but I'm making sure the hardlight ammunition only does minimal damage. I don't want to be responsible in telling Spider-Man why you're taking an extended stay at the hospital." She snorted. Yeah, he'd kill Lana if that happened.

"Pete's got no room to talk."

"Point. Now, don't move."Another construct, this one with a pistol. Lana resisted every instinct she had to fight or fly and just braced herself as the bullet shot and...grazed her shoulder.

...Whatever. It was good enough.

She looked down at the thin cut...and a rather disturbing lack of blood. It only took a few seconds before a white energy covered the wound and the skin was returned to normal, "Fascinating," Wasp chimed in her ear, "It appears that the energy is keeping your body in an optimal state."

"What's with the no blood thing?"

"I have my own theories on that. Let's grow you back so we can talk."

Oh thank fuck for that. Lana approached the designated platform and let Wasp grow her back to her normal height. She was tempted to as for an extra couple of inches, but she didn't want to risk anything. She fingered the T-shirt's torn right sleeve as she walked back to the table and sat on it. Probably a bad time to suggest getting shot when she was going to a basketball game later.

"So what's the verdict, doc? Am I gonna make it?"

"It was touch and go for a while there, but yes, you'll make a full recovery." Wasp smirked, "I did some more research from the DNA samples you gave me and compared it with a few others who showed a reaction to the Terrigen mist." She tapped her notepad and a bunch of holographic graphs appeared in front of them. Wonder how much  _those_  cost? "As you can see here, while we can't tell which individuals are susceptible to a reaction before exposure, those that do change have their genetics altered.

"Right...not even gonna pretend to figure out what those drawings mean." She never was good at science.

"It means that your physiology has been altered, hence the 'no blood thing'." She gestured to the freshly healed cut, "Sudden, ballistic impacts are dispersed by the energy before penetrating too deep. And those that do..." Wasp took a syringe and stepped closer to her, "May I?" Lana nodded and flinched slightly when the needle (must've been vibranium or something) broke skin.

And drew white-yellow blood.

"Huh...neat. That's not normal, is it?"

"Part of your new physiology." Wasp set the filled syringe down. Lana kept staring at it, "Your blood, along with the rest of your body, has been altered by the mist to a great extent." She showed off another screen, "Actually, while I can't confirm anything, we can assume that your previous powers also came from Terrigenesis."

"How? That thing didn't show up till half a year ago."

"Exactly, which draws even more suspicion." Wasp nodded, "I doubt your mother is aware of anything, but it's quite possible the both of you were possibly exposed when you were both younger and the amount was enough to activate your latent abilities."

"Or maybe it was the serial killer shooting my mom in the stomach with a shotgun." Wasp just blinked in surprise at the blunt admission, "Look, I know this is interesting and all, but I really just wanna know if this means I'm good and won't blow up my room. Anya and Aracely are staying there and I kinda like em." She didn't care about the whole 'are you human?' thing. She could point at things and they exploded, that dilemma passed a  _long_  time ago.

"Yes. Provided you remain calm and emotionally stable your powers should be no more dangerous than they were before."

"Great, that's all I wanted. Thanks."

"Not so fast." Wasp handed her a cellphone, "That's a phone that will get you a direct line to me. If you feel your powers acting up in any way then please don't hesitate to contact me."

"Huh...thanks." Lana smiled and put it in the pocket of her shorts. First Sue and now the Wasp. She really had hit the big time, "If there's nothing else I really gotta go. Promised Aracely I'd take her to a b-ball game."

"Go on. Have fun."

30 minutes later she, Gabe, Anya, Sue and Aracely (wearing a thick hood and a baseball cap to hide her face) were cheering on the bleachers as MVP and his team trashed their opponents. Aracely and Anya held up a sign while Lana clapped at another dunk. The game wasn't anything fancy - just a match on a public court. MVP didn't grow up poor, but he knew enough about working for what he had that he felt more comfortable here.

Sue wriggled awkwardly in her seat and kept throwing the occasional sideways glances at Gabriel. She looked so out of place here. Even with her shirt, skirt and sneakers it was clear that she didn't belong. Everything she owned was designer one way or another and it was clear at least a few people in the crowd recognized her if the pictures and whispers were anything to go by.

Gabriel split his attention between the game and his laptop. He really took to Nor and was there the second he was out of school. Nor seemed to like him too; apparently she felt guilty and even started paying him because of how much stuff he was doing for her. And of course Gabe felt guilty getting money for just doing what he thought was right, so it became doubly awkward.

Ah...she loved her friends.

MVP skidded close to them and almost tripped on the bleachers when the ball went out of court, "Sorry about that!" He smiled at them. Lana could practically Anya swooning already.

They all waved him off and continued watching the game. Lana leaned forward and gave Aracely a sideways glance. She'd been bunking with her and Anya for a few days now - much to Cindy's initial annoyance - and already she knew it wasn't feasible. They always had to keep their curtains closed, had to sneak her food from the cafeteria and Aracely couldn't make a single noise all day so people wouldn't realize something was up. They needed somewhere else for her to stay where she wasn't treated like an illegal housepet.

The game ended soon enough with MVP's team, unsurprisingly, scoring a final dunk. She stood and made to give her congratulations to the mvp (heh) when she saw a big dude in a tanktop steamroll up to him like a constipated rhino, "You fucking cheater!" If he was trying to be intimidating he failed hard. Kinda hard to outbulk a guy who grew up with Captain America training.

"Excuse me, what?" MVP asked back.

"You heard me, asshole." He shoved a finger to MVP's chest, "Only reason you won is cause you got some fucking injection. Cheating prick."

_'Ah shit, here we go again.'_ Lana sighed. MVP dealt with this shit  _way_  too much. It didn't matter that the Super Soldier serum was a one and done thing and that anyone who picked up a single Captain America comic book knew that. As soon as people found out he was the great-grandkid of the guy who made it everyone immediately assumed great old granddaddy was psychic and stashed away some serum for him. He lost all his awards and scholarships cause those dumbasses thought he cheated even after testing proved he didn't have anything in his blood.

That was, of course, till he graduated with top marks at the Initiative and Captain America confirmed what anyone with half a brain already knew - that he was, in fact, just a guy who had a good diet and did his push ups and to imply otherwise was an insult to hard work. Then suddenly everyone was scrambling and trying to play off like they didn't just spit in the dude's face for his years of resisting the temptation to eat cake.

But of course there were still people who refused to admit they were wrong. Like the people who thought vaccinations made you retarded or that the world was flat or that hoodies weren't dumb.

"I'm...sorry you think that way, but I didn't get the super soldier serum-"

"Bullshit!" Alright, enough was enough. Lana shoved the guy away and he almost fell flat on his ass, "Hey, the fuck are you-"

"No one likes a sore loser, dude." Lana sneered up at him. Both he and MVP were heads and shoulders over her but she didn't feel intimidated in the least, "Why don'tcha piss off 'fore you make a bigger ass of yourself?" She gestured to his team behind him, all of whom looked embarrassed or desperately tried to ignore the scene. Poor guys. She knew that most of them were nice guys.

"Fuck are you, one of his fans or somethin'?"

"No, I'm his friend, and guess what? I don't like seeing my friends get shit talked." She grabbed his shirt and tugged him down to her level. It would've felt cooler if his tanktop wasn't wet and he didn't stink of sweat, "Now be a good boy and stop being a shithead."

She shoved him away again. He looked like he was gonna say something when his eyes suddenly widened in what looked liked recognition, "Shit..." He scowled and turned away, "Fucking freakshows..." She rolled her eyes and gave him the middle finger. People always thought the freak word hurt, and maybe it did for most people. Someone who grew up with a prostitute mom, though? Yeah, it didn't even make the top 50 list.

MVP released a breath and smiled sheepishly down at her when the guy was out of sight, "Thanks, but you didn't have to-"

"I know, but I wanted to. Most of us 'Gifted' just got the luck of the draw so it pisses me off that you get shit on when you work so hard for these." She lightly punched his toned abs and grinned up at him, "Come on, let's go get something to eat."

When they got back Sue was, of course, surrounded by people asking for autographs. The blonde looked at her desperately and she was almost tempted to feign walking away or shoving Gabriel into the crowd. Almost. She wasn't that much of a bitch. Instead she waved her over and, with an apologetic freaking  _bow_ , Sue practically scurried up to them and made sure everyone else was around her as they walked to the pizza place.

Lana mostly kept quiet and let the others talk when they got a private booth. She munched on the mushroom and jalapeno (hey, don't judge her) and thought about what Wasp told her. She looked at her hand under the table and let a burst of yellow energy run through her fingertips.

Why her, she wondered. She was never anything special; just another kid who grew up in a shitty neighborhood. She wondered how things would be like if that bastard Carter never came. She would've never had to deal with all this insanity. Her mom wouldn't have had those scars and lost months of her life in that hospital.

But then she wouldn't have met Pete, her new friends, wouldn't have been able to help save people like Aracely or Gabe. She wasn't conceited enough to claim she fought for justice and truth, but there was something nice that she couldn't deny about helping people. Sure, she wasn't saving the world like the Avengers, but she didn't have to. This was enough.

Her musings were cut off when Aracely suddenly spoke out.

"Sue likes Gabriel."

Any and all chatter in the table died at the announcement. Sue's eyes went wide and her face went red while everyone else just looked at the youngest girl on the table. Aracely continued to chew on her pizza without even bothering to look up, "Anya like Michael, but she's too shy to tell him because he likes Lana. Michael does like her, and so does Gabriel. Michael had a wet dream about her two nights ago-"

"H-Hey!" MVP screamed shouted in a panic. Everyone else on the table was either covering their face or groaning into the table.

"Lana still has a crush on Spider-Man and somewhat resents Spider-Woman for it, but she's moving on. The Spider-Man and Punisher books help-"

"Hey, hey, hey! What the fuck?! Why are you saying shit that's not true?!" Despite the situation Anya actually took the time to give Lana a raised brow. She flipped her off.

Aracely finally looked up from her pizza and stared at Lana with confused, puppy dog eyes, "Not true?" She tilted her head to the side and it took everything Lana had to keep being pissed off at there, "But...you're all saying it now. I heard you."

"What do you..." Wait...did she mean, "Shit, I think I can guess what you mean, but tell me anyway."

"I hear you talking. You say words, but on top of those words are other things. Sue talks to Gabriel about his hobbies but on top of that she's thinking on how to ask him out." She could've sworn Sue actually whimpered at that, hands still covering her face. Gabe looked at the blonde sympathetically and rubbed her back, "Others are the same. Words but then words on top of the words."

"...You're a mind reader." She'd heard claims from people online. Most of em were bullshit, but she figured there had to have been a legit one floating around somewhere, "Shit, and here I thought all you could do was float."

"Mind reader, huh? Guess that explains it." Anya put a hand on her chin and nodded. Lana immediately noticed she was doing her best to absolutely not look at MVP, "But that doesn't explain why you're blurting it out."

"I...just did. Why do you blink?"

"Because when we do so our eyelids spread a cocktail of mucous and oils to keep our eyeballs hydrated," Lana recited. Hey, just cause she was bad at science didn't mean she didn't study, "Fine, I get it. Just...don't do it again. Or if you have to cover your mouth or leave the room."

"Okay, but...all of you are being very loud right now." She looked between Gabriel, Sue and MVP, "...I won't say anything more. Please don't be mad."

"We're not mad, it's just...most people don't blurt shit out." Lana sighed, "Just say sorry and promise you won't do it again, okay?" And no, she wasn't going to say anything about the bombshell (fuck that name) she dropped about Gabriel and MVP. Hormones were a bitch and she knew it.

"Okay...sorry."

Everyone eventually returned to normal with none of them talking about what Aracely just blurted out. She was sure it'd be awkward for them and they'd be wary about Aracely for a while, but they'd forgive her eventually.

They went their separate ways after that (and she didn't miss that Sue and Gabe left together). Anya said she'd take Aracely to her dad's place for a bit, leaving Lana some free time to go patrolling. She jumped on top of a nearby building and changed her clothes, "Alright, new powers. Let's see what you can do." She put on the domino mask and surged forward before jumping through the air with enough force to land on the building across the street.

Oh, she could  _definitely_  get used to this.

It didn't take her long to find someone. Six guys in suits all beating on one dude who looked to be in his 40's, "Thought you could just go to the police, you rat bastard?!" The head kicked him in the ribs. Lana grit her teeth and jumped down. She hated bullies.

"Hey!"

They turned around just in time for the closest one to get dropkicked right into the wall, "Shit, it's one of them!" Another pulled out a gun from his coat pocket and she blasted his hand then legs. Guns and suits; probably Maggia.

Lana did a sweeping kick and knocked one of them to the ground before blasting another one's chest. He flew through the air and skidded along the end of the alley while she stomped on the prone one's face, "Fuck!" The second to the last started shooting. Lana rushed towards him in a burst of light and energy and tackled him hard. He flew through the air like his buddy and she rushed ahead again, grabbed his legs and slammed him to the ground.

Oh yeah, she could  _definitely_  get used to this.

The last one fell on his ass and scrambled back in a panic. Lana looked around the alley and found the guy they were beating on gone. Oh well, least she had that fancy go pro to prove they were assholes.

The panicking suit scrambed for something from his coat. Her first thought was 'gun' and she immediately blasted his hand. The guy guy screamed and when she looked at what he dropped she raised a brow. Not a gun, but an inhaler of some kind, "Shit, you got asthma or something?" She almost felt bad knocking him out. Lana knelt down and picked up the dropped inhaler then twisted it to and fro. Didn't look like any brand she remembered.

Shuffling movement from behind drew her attention. When she pocketed the inhaler and looked back she found the guy whose right hand and legs she blasted scrambling through his own pockets before quickly pulling out his own inhaler and taking a huge puff.

She didn't know what she expected, but it definitely wasn't the guy's skin scabbing over with rock like a wizard from D&D. The guy stood up on his now unbroken legs and looked at her with bloodshot eyes before  _roaring_  and charging at her.

Lana sidestepped the charge and kneed him in the gut only to almost fall from the sudden shock to her kneecaps. Felt like she was hitting a concrete wall, "Hell's in those things?" She rushed back and the guy tried for another punch. She caught his fist with both hands and grit her teeth. Fucker was  _strong_ , "You're goin' to the Raft when I'm done with you, fucker." She raised his fist then blasted him in the face.

Didn't work. The guy tackled her before she could dodge and they made it to the end of the alley before he tossed her into a parked taxi hard enough to dent the frame. Lana grunted as she impacted the yellow car and took a second to catch her breath, "My car!" Someone screamed to her left. She looked at the driver dryly and stood, the cuts from the broken glass and her shattered ribs already healing.

She gathered energy with both hands and glared at the guy with the suit. He looked back at her with his bloodshot eyes and lowered himself back down to charge.

And then he collapsed.

Lana almost thought she'd gone delirious. One second he was gonna charge her like a Rhino and the next he was flat on his face. She dispelled the energy from his hands and walked closer warily. Was it a trap? Having Pete or Spider-Gwen's sixth sense would've been real good right now.

He didn't so much as twitch when she knelt down and put two fingers to his neck, "No pulse..." Great, superpowers that killed you. She stood and pulled out the inhaler again. The sickly sweet smell was all too familiar: Terrigen Mist. The police were gonna want this.

She walked back to the almost crying driver and handed him a card, "Here. Initiative insurance." Every graduate got one. Helped cut down on the lawsuits when you had to wreck a car or a pipe to stop a villain.

She rubbed at the back of her torn coat and sighed as she heard sirens. This was gonna be a long day.

* * *

**Fantastic4Four: -embedded image-**  Just saw Sue Storm at a local basketball game. Guess the rumors about her dating MVP are true.

**GenericUsername:**  Doubt it. Haven't you heard? Bombshell and MVP are dating.

**Fantastic4Four:** That was disproved like a week ago dude.

**BlondesHaveNoFun:**  Yeah. I mean, we all know Striker and Storm are the ones making out. They're WAY too close in those pics.

**GenericUsername:** Didn't she say she was straight when people asked?

**BlondesHaveNoFun:** They're obviously in the closet. Dunno why. It's 2018, chicas. No one cares if you're gay.

**ProfessorOdd:**  Anyone recognize the other people around Storm and Bombshell?

**TeenagerAt30:**  Probably just their groupies. Every hero has one.

**ProfessorOdd:** I dunno, the latina with the brown hair kinda looks familiar...

**TeenagerAt30:** You're thinking too much.

* * *

Harlem was a place Cindy never really found herself going to much. Back home her mom was insistent she go home if she wasn't going on hockey practice or on dates with Hector and after she got here she tended to stick around the other parts of Manhattan. There weren't much supervillains down here so most of the time she didn't have to worry about someone blowing up a gas station or something.

She could thank the protector of Harlem for that.

Cindy stepped out of Felicia's car and stretched her arms above her head. Another kidnapping, this time a child. Felicia shut the door behind her and followed Cindy up to the apartment of one Rio Morales. Her son Miles had been reported missing last night and after she mentioned that he was one of those who showed a reaction to the Terrigen Mist it'd been fast tracked to her.

She'd deal with Kurt's missing friends later. If she was right then this was all connected.

She was on the third floor when she looked back to Felicia. The silver haired popstar had been quiet ever since they met up again that morning. It didn't take much guessing to figure that it had something to do with Karen Page's deal with her. Cindy wanted to ask, but she didn't think it was her place. They weren't really that close.

Cindy stopped at the door and knocked, "Mrs. Morales? This is Cindy Moon from the NYPD. I'm here about your son." There was a rush of shuffling footsteps and a thin, older woman opened the door. Her hair was long and curly and it was clear from the state of her messy nurse's scrubs - still stained with flecks of blood and other fluids - and the bags under her eyes that she hadn't been sleeping.

"Y-You're here about Miles?"

"Yes. May we please come inside?"

The woman nodded gratefully and let them in. She was only mildly surprised to see Luke Cage sitting at the living room couch, "Hey, Luke." She gave him a strained smile, a gesture that he returned. He was probably here to do the same thing they were.

"You know each other?" Felicia asked, finally speaking up.

"We've had coffee." Felicia raised a brow and Cindy shook her head. Now wasn't the time. She turned her attention back to the grieving woman and and did her best to give a reassuring smile, "Mrs. Morales, could you tell us everything from the start?"

"Y-Yes." She sat at one of the chairs shakily and took a long, deep breath, "M-My son Miles didn't come home yesterday. He was spending time with his friend Ganke, they live across the street." She sniffled and wiped tears from her eyes, "I'm...Ganke said that he was fine when they said goodbye. It takes less than a minute to cross the street! I...I don't know how he could've been..."

"It's okay." Luke stood up and hugged her as she broke down.

Cindy smiled appreciatively and looked around the room. There were a lot of pictures, most of them with the two together. She picked up the framed photo and took in the kid's features. According to the report he was 9 years old. It only made her angrier. Who the hell kidnapped a  _child?_ "Is there anywhere else he could've gone, Mrs. Morales? Maybe a dad or relatives?" She took a picture on her phone and put the frame back down.

"N-No. His father...he's not in the picture, and I don't keep up with my relatives." She shut her eyes, "This is my fault. I should've-"

"Don't blame yourself." Surprisingly enough it was Felicia who said that, "I can tell by your state that you're overworked, especially since it's just you both. Don't worry, we'll find your son." Felicia's eyes softened and Cindy wondered just how much Mrs. Morales and her son reminder her of her own situation.

They said some final words to the distraught woman and left with Luke in tow. Luke waited till they were out on the street again before he growled in frustration, "We gotta find that kid."

"No arguments from me," Cindy said.

"Problem is where we should start." Felicia crossed her arms, "We need names and locations to begin our search."

"I know a guy," Luke grimaced, "Turk Barret, an opportunistic little rat. If anyone's kidnapping kids then he'll know where to start lookin'. Problem is he's gone underground and it'll take days to find him. We don't got that kinda time."

"Give me a couple of hours." Felicia smirked.

A couple of hours later and they were kicking down the door to his apartment, "What the fuck?!" The guy pulled up his boxers and while the woman who was between his legs scrambled away in fear. Prostitute by the looks of her, "Fuck, this is private property and I'm conductin' private business! Get the fuck outta here!"

Cindy looked at the woman on the floor and pulled out her prioricard, "Avengers business, Mr. Barret." Both his and the prostitute's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their skulls, "I suggest your 'girlfriend' take her leave."

She didn't need to be told twice. The woman grabbed her coat and ran out like Wile E. Coyote chasing the roadrunner while Turk started sweating bullets. Getting a visit from the Avengers was practically the same as being put on the terrorist watchlist. Or because they wanted to do a charity thing. Either or.

"Man, shit..." He wiped his sweaty face and was too nervous to even grab for his pants, "What the fuck you want from me? I ain't done shit!"

"That's not what my contacts said." Felicia smiled, sickly sweet, "Selling drugs, arms dealing, a few robberies..."

"Not to mention that prostitute who just walked outta here," Cindy added cheerily, "You've got a pretty big rapsheet, Mr. Barret."

"Man, fuck off with this! Just tell me what the fuck you want!"

"This kid." Cindy pulled out her phone and showed him the picture of Miles, "Recognize him?"

He looked down and, despite what must have been a  _herculean_  effort of epic proportions, his eyes widened in obvious recognition, "N-Nah, ain't never seen him before."

He didn't need Pete's busted spider-sense to tell the guy was lying, and evidently neither did Luke, "You're lying." He scowled down at the shivering man in his boxers. She didn't feel sorry for him, "Tell us where he is. Now."

"Hey, you ain't got nothin' on me! So just-"

Luke grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him to the window that led to the back alley. He shoved the window open then grabbed Turk's left leg and dangled him outside, "Last chance."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Shit!" He looked down(up?) at the unforgiving ground below. If he landed headfirst best case scenario was spending the rest of his life drooling, "Hey, hey! You just gonna let him do this?! Ain't you Avengers bitches supposed to be heroes?!"

Cindy narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, "Calling people bitches really isn't a good way to beg for help," she replied, faux casual, "Now tell us where Miles and any other victims are or I'm going to let my friend here drop you on your head."

"Alright, fine! Fuck! Just pull me in!" Luke and Cindy shared a look before he pulled Turk back in and let him collapse next to the wall. The guy shivered and looked a hair's breath from peeing himself, "Okay, okay, just...I'll tell ya everything, but ya gotta promise me you don't go squealin' to the cops." More deals? Like Scorpion again? Cindy scowled, "Cause me? I'm just the middleman. Ain't did none of the heavy stuff."

Another load of BS. She shared a second look with Luke and nodded. The three of them just listened as he told them everything he knew. Scorpion was involved, much to her non-surprise, and eventually he listed down three locations where people were stashed. Three locations and three of them. Perfect.

"Right, now I told ya everythin', so just-"

Cindy tapped De Wolfe's number and put the phone against her ear, "Hey, Jean? I need you to come to this apartment on Brownstone avenue. I'll send you the details later."

Turk looked like he'd been slapped with a fish when she cut the call, "What the fuck?! You said-"

"I said I wouldn't report you for your human trafficking. I didn't say anything about everything else you did, particularly that woman who just walked out. Prostitution  _is_  illegal, you know?" She webbed his hands and legs together then covered his mouth when he fell on his side, "And if the cops see about everything else you did? Well, that's not my fault."

He looked up at her screamed through the gag. Cindy just gave him another sickly sweet smile and walked out with with the others. They all quickly agreed to go to the separate areas alone to do it quicker. Cindy's ended up going to an off the way subway tunnel covered in graffiti, mold and cobwebs. Why did she always get the fun ones?

Spin-sense. She unholstered her pistol and jumped up to the roof just as two guards in suits carrying assault rifles rounded the corner. Yep, definitely the place, "Man, all this for just one kid?" The left one groused. Cindy furrowed her brows. One kid? Sounded like Miles, but what about any other victims? "Bossman's losin' it."

She grabbed the quiet one lagging behind by his head and arms and webbed him up to the roof with her. The chatty one finally noticed his buddy was missing just in time for Cindy to yank herself towards him and kick him the face. She webbed him to the wall and continued where they just came from. If there really was just Miles here then it made her job easier. She hoped Felicia and Luke found lead on their spots.

Four more goons. She took care of them easily enough. Cindy holstered her gun and placed a tracker on the wall. Police could arrest these guys cause she sure as hell wasn't hauling em out, "Miles?" She smashed the lock and pulled open the door roughly only to be met with a pipe that nearly clocked her in the face. She ducked under the makeshift weapon and grabbed her 'opponent'.

"Lemme go!" Miles kicked feebly and tried to loosen her grip. Cindy heaved a sigh of relief and set him down, "I'm not gonna-"

"It's okay. I'm here to take you back to your mom." She lowered her scarf so he could see her face in full. Cap said it helped calm them down, "She's been worried sick about you, so let's go back. Okay?"

He looked hesitant for a moment before eventually nodding. Cindy picked him up - the kid was tiny - with one hand and carried him out, "Don't look, okay?" At least one of the goons was bleeding out. Miles nodded and pressed his face to her shoulder with his eyes shut tight. She was almost to the end of the tunnel when her-spin sense blared. Someone was watching her.

She narrowed her eyes and put the scarf back up to her face. Couldn't fight, not like this. She had to get Miles out first.

A burst of purple came at the edge of her vision and she barely managed to step back to avoid the clawed swipe aimed at her face, "Shit!" She shot at the figure and started running down the tunnel a different way from where she came in. Cindy jumped over the chainlink gate and continued running as dull, metallic footsteps echoed behind her. Whoever it was they were fast.

"Wh-What's going on?!" Miles screamed.

"It'll be okay, just keep your eyes closed!" She made it to a far less run-down tunnel and swerved to the left as a large, looming shadow drew closer. If the tunnel was being used it meant a station had to be close by.

A bright light surged towards her and she barely had the time to mentally scream ' _train!'_  before instinct took over and she jumped to the roof again. Cindy pressed herself tightly against the surface and kept Miles close till she was sure there was nothing below her anymore.

Cindy dropped down and when she looked back she finally got a good look at the one chasing them. The figure was tall and lanky with a black and purple suit that covered him from head to toe, masking all of his features. He looked back at her and brandished his clawed hands as he stepped off the wall.

She fired off two more shots - both of which he dodged - and kept running. Another train was coming, but she saw the light of the station ahead of them, "Almost there..." She pushed herself farther and jumped into the station floor just before the the train ran past to the tunnel. Everyone around her stared, "Run!" Cindy screamed. She set Miles down and looked back to the tunnel, "Get up to the streets! I'll keep him down here!"

"But-"

"Go!"

She practically shoved him to the stairs with the rest of the civilians smartly following. She didn't have to wait long before their stalker surged out of the tunnel like a ghost and came right for her.

Cindy dodged his slashes and was forced back by the quickness of the attacks. She waited for an opening before countering with her own kicks, which he also dodged or blocked. The guy was  _fast_. Either he was another Gifted or that suit cost more than her entire Avengers salary.

She kicked him away, unholstered both guns and started firing rapidly as she slowly walked backwards. Stalker rolled back to avoid the hail of gunfire and she heard a low growl, "Not very chatty, are you? If you give up now I'll put in a good word for you." She reloaded both pistols quickly and he charged towards her. He swerved to the left as soon as she started firing and ran alongside the walls of the tunnel then the roof when she trained her guns on him again.

The guns were emptied again by the time he was on top of her. Stalker jumped down with both claws open and Cindy rolled back, both hands quickly returning the guns to their holsters and she took up a fighting position again. Stalker looked up and the eyes of his mask narrowed, "Fine, claws out." She smiled wryly and formed her webbing into sharpened tips.

He attacked first. Cindy dodged every strike and countered with her own. Her right hand slashed through his chest and he grabbed her outstretched arm, "Hands off." She headbutted him. It hurt more than she expected, but Stalker stumbling back was worth it. Cindy twisted his arm behind his back and slammed him on the ground before he quickly countered with a spin that sent her to the floor and him straddling her.

She moved her head to avoid the claws aimed at her eye and webbed him in the face. The purple stalker raised both hands to his head and she kicked his chest with both feet before scrambling back. He'd barely managed to pry the webbing off his face when Cindy webbed down his entire body in a thick blanket of webbing that left him wriggling on the floor.

Cindy put her hands on her knees and panted. The guy was tough. She walked towards him to pick him up when her spin-sense blared again, "What the-" Trails of smoke - acid - pushed through the webbing before Stalker ripped away the bindings like tissue paper and charged towards her. She didn't have enough time to dodge and they both flew through the air briefly before crashing back on the tracks.

The impact knocked the wind out of her briefly. Stalker was on top of her again and wrapped both hands around his neck to choke her, the claws digging into the flesh. Cindy grabbed both his hands and grit her teeth. No way was she going down like this.

The bright lights and the sounds of metal came from the right. Both their attentions snapped to the incoming train and she felt the purple bastard's grip loosen slightly, "Don't wanna miss your train." She webbed his face again and shoved him to the tracks before she shot multiple lines of webbing with both hands and pulled herself up back to the platform.

The sound of the passing train was practically deafening. Cindy kept lying on the ground and rubbed her bloody neck, her breaths coming out in strangled gasps. It'd heal soon enough, but she covered the finger sized holes anyway to stop the bleeding. She took a deep, painful breath, stood and looked back at the tracks.

The train was gone, and so was their stalker. No mashed remains, no wrecked tech...nothing. Cindy sighed and trudged up the stairs to the outside only to be met with a crowd of expectant civilians and, thankfully, Miles, "Show's over, folks." She grabbed Miles' shoulder, smiled and walked him back to the police station. Considering what just happened she'd need to put him and Mrs. Morales back to police custody. After that...

She'd call Luke because it's been a long day and she needed some damn coffee.

* * *

**DisasterArtist: -embedded video-**  Managed to take a vid of Spinerette's fight with some purple villain!

**1984:** How the fuck did you get this?

**DisasterArtist:**  Was hiding in the train platform across from where they were fighting and neither of them noticed me. Glad I stuck around!

**GracefulYetStupid:** Holy crap, look at how she fights!  **#myfriendshipwithspiderwomanisover #nowspineretteismyfriend**

**DisasterArtist:**  Oh yeah, love a woman who knows how to handle a pair of guns :3

**NormalPersonOnHere:**  There's something weird to me about a Superhero using guns. Is that just me?

**GracefulYetStupid:** Makes sense to me. A guy who's a black belt in karate could still carry a gun, especially in a place like New York. Better to have it just in case. And she's  _clearly_  trained, mmph.

**Spinerette: DisasterArtist** , next time please evacuate. I don't need your head on my conscience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this chapter was kinda hard due to the fight scenes. I originally planned to add a small segment with Peter and Gwen at the end but I decided to save it for the next chapter due to how long this was getting. That and one of the questions I'm asking at the end of this chapter can actually affect it so this is probably for the best.
> 
> Miles was also supposed to play a role by hitting Prowler with a Venom sting (his terrigenesis power). I cut it out cause I wanted Cindy to and Prowler to fight one-on-one and show her to be more adept rather than needing help from someone, especially a child.
> 
> And don't worry, just cause Miles is here doesn't mean this is now a Miles Morales fic. He does play a role in Cindy's scorpion plotline, but he's a side-character at best.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Does the story feel too stretched thin? I already had complaints of this nature in V1 when the protagonists were just Noir and Gwen but now we have 5 different protagonists; MJ especially due to her originally being a supporting character for Gwen before her Carnage Scarlet Spider plotline resonated well with readers.
> 
> 2\. Should Gwen join Noir's group during their fights with the Hand, at least sometimes? In-universe I can see her doing it but meta-wise the extreme power disparity between her, Noir's group and the Hand themselves would render this comical since nothing the Hand can do can hurt her. The only thing holding her from roflstomping is her refusing to just kill them.
> 
> 3\. Should I tone down the Noir/Gwen mushy stuff? I can't help but feel like while everyone's out doing plot stuff these two are just making kissy faces at each other.


	18. Three Spiders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update took a while. I'm so lazy :(
> 
> Current votes: 9 for scientific/magical/demonic gadgets, 7 for wallcrawling and webswinging and 5 for more mystical abilities/Spider Trigger. I'll keep the poll up for a few more days after this update then switch it out for the one asking which love interest MJ should have.
> 
> I'm considering writing the Moon Knight oneshot prequel once I finish the Mayday omake. We'll see.

_Jameson: Now I've been getting some accusations that I'm a bigot. That the only reason I'm railing against the likes of Spider-Woman and her ilk are because I'm 'racist' against the Gifted._

_Well I'm here to tell you that you're WRONG! It's not because they have powers, it's because they're MENACES! Think about madmen like the so-called Moon Knight or that mass murderer 'The Punisher', who sounds like a villain from one of those 'adult' cartoons you kids are into nowadays. They don't have powers, but they're just as dangerous to themselves and others around them._

_Or what about a young woman by the name of Abigail Boylen, commonly known by the alias Cloud 9? She has powers - creating clouds to fly, according to her 'posts' - and she uses it to work a job in pizza delivery and courier work to help support herself and her family. Now THERE's someone who's doing good! Why can't everyone else follow her example and leave the crime fighting to the professionals?_

_Oh, we just got a caller. You're on with J. Jonah Jameson!_

_Caller: Yeah, hey. First off aren't the Avengers deputized and everything? Doesn't that make them professionals?_

_Jameson: Maybe for SOME of them. Captain America and Wasp are experienced heroes who've proven themselves, but the others? That 'entertainer' She-Hulk? The daughter of that billionaire running around with a bow and arrow? And the less said about Spider-Woman and Spinerette, the better!_

_Caller: Spinerette's working with the cops, though. And she helped save that kid who got kidnapped._

_Jameson: And she did it in a way that so conveniently left her as the sole person to ensure this innocent child would be safe. Did she think the cops were incompetent or is she just so obsessed with glory that she's willing to put an innocent at risk? Frankly, madam, your not seeing this makes me question your mental faculties._

_Caller: Good to know. Oh, and I'm Abigail Boylen, by the way. Good to know you_ really  _think I'm an idiot._

_Jameson: ...Jared, cut the call! I said cut it!_

* * *

Gwen swung down a short distance away from the homeless encampment and quickly shifted back into her casuals, making sure her face was different from regular old Gwen Stacy. Peter was here and he made it very clear he didn't want Spider-Woman making any unscheduled appearances.

The homeless here weren't much fans of her, according to Peter. Apparently being put up on billboards and making TV appearances caused them to resent her as one of the 'big people', just one of the ones on high looking down through their noses. Her rich heiress image from the comic didn't help. She couldn't help but feel sort of offended at the thought. Sure she wasn't a nun or anything, but the only reason she did those damn charity shows (apart from seeing those kids' smiles) was cause it got donations.

She didn't do it for fun, especially not with those big money types looking at her like a piece of meat on auction.

 _'Oh well, nothing you can do about it.'_  With a soft sigh the blonde walked across the makeshift village to where she knew Peter would be. A few of the milling bums gave her a few looks but made no move to actually stop her. It wasn't like she was the first 'outsider' to step foot in here. She made sure to stop and drop a Benjamin near an old woman's sleeping bag. Poor woman didn't even have a shack or a tent.

She stopped and smiled when she saw him. Peter was kneeling next to a group of people and handing out various amounts of corner store food and drinks His head was covered in a thick hood so she could only see the lower half of his face, but it was clear from the smile that he was in good spirits. Better that none of them knew who he was, or so he said.

A short distance away she caught Norah and Murdock's mom - god, that still felt weird to think about - helping one of the older residents with a leg wound. Gwen stepped closer and overheard Norah, "Come on, Jenkins, deep breath! Just hold still for a second more so we can fix your leg." The blonde smiled and held on to the bearded man's shoulders while Murdock's mom grabbed his bent left leg and twisted it with a sickening crack.

The old man grunted and screamed out a string of curses. The nun continued to fix up his leg while Norah let go of his shoulder, picked up a bottle and handed it to him. Booze by the looks of it, "Heh, thanks..." Old man Jenkins took a quick sip of the alcohol.

"No prob. Just make sure to answer some questions when you're healed up." Norah grinned at him then finally took notice of her, "Oh, Gwen! Whatcha doing down here from atop your lofty tower?"

"Very funny, Norah." Gwen rolled her eyes and, before she could make her own well-thought out and supremely intelligent comeback, an all too familiar barking reached her ears and the (somehow still tiny) pug  _zipped_ around the corner and immediately started scratching at her ankles with a giant grin on his face.

 

**'My better half returns.'**

_'We need to wean you off of those late night shows, little lady. They're a bad influence on you.'_

**'That's right. Blame Webflicks, not your great influence and our relationship that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Not even chocolate.'**

_'...It's scary that I have no idea if you're being sarcastic or not.'_

**'Good.'**

Gwen walked around the corner out of sight and, when she was reasonably sure no one was looking, let Webster slink out so she could have her pow wow with pugface, "Don't let anyone see you," she whispered. Webster 'nodded' and Gwen stood up and walked to where Peter was sitting and talking with a man maybe a decade older than him, if that.

"Max, hey." He smiled up at her and she sat next to him. She had to admit she felt like an outsider here, but it wasn't too bad, "This is John. John, this is Max."

"Nice to meet you." She grinned at him and shook his hand. Max...well, it wasn't the worst fake name she could think of.

"This that girl you keep talkin' about, Ben?" The man asked with a grin of his own.

"Ooh, you talk about me? Do tell."

"It's nothing. Just...talk about the people in our lives." Peter coughed and looked to the older man pointedly, "Besides, we were talking business."

"Right, right..." John sighed.

"What's going on?" Gwen asked.

"You saw Jenkins over there." Peter gestured to the old man who was currently busy talking to Norah, "He didn't break his own leg. There's been a bunch of punks running around here. Apparently they get their jollies beating on the homeless. They broke Jenkins' leg when he tried to get them to stop."

Gwen's face knotted in disgust, "Assholes. But, shouldn't the police be handling this?"

"Girl, you ain't been around the Kitchen much, have you?" John laughed derisively, "Cops don't care about us. Even if Ms. Page got us rights to stay here - squattin' laws and all - they got more important things to do than play bodyguard to a buncha bums. That and the head honcho of these guys is some rich boy. Daddy gets him whatever he wants so even if we do call the cops it ain't gonna do nothin'."

"That's..." Wrong. Wrong, wrong,  _wrong_. So what if they were homeless? It didn't mean assholes had free rein to do whatever they wanted with them.

Peter got all the details and the two of them went elsewhere so they could talk alone, "I thought this place was supposed to get better after we killed that demon..." Peter muttered, "...I know I said I'd come have dinner at your house, but maybe you should go ahead?"

"What are you going to do to them?"

"Make sure they can't use that baseball bat they used to cripple Jenkins."

The implicit threat was enough for her. Gwen took a deep breath and put a hand on his shoulder, "Right, how about we do this another way?" He looked back at her and she held up both hands, "I'm not saying your way is wrong, okay? But let me try something first, a way so that the people here don't get fucked over by some rich kid's daddy with a vendetta." She held up the miniature camera and smiled wryly, "Sometimes there are some benefits to having to film everything."

"What, you think a public shaming's going to work?"

"For a lot of these guys? Yeah, it's basically suicide. And if it doesn't work then we can do it your way. I just want a chance to try and help. The last time I did it when you...took a break I ended up just making an ass of myself." It was a bitter reminder that being a friendly neighborhood hero didn't work out everywhere. The war with HYDRA they had came to mind.

"...Alright, but I'll stay close."

A few hours later and it was barely past sundown. Gwen crouched on a nearby rooftop and and narrowed her eyes as four guys strolled into the encampment like they owned it. She was tempted to swing down right then and there, but she knew she needed proof. Beating him up wouldn't help. He'd just come crying to mommy and daddy then who knew what'd happen to the people at the encampment. They needed to do this better.

"Hey, anybody home!" The ringleader couldn't have been younger than 30 but from what she heard from the others he acted maybe half of that. His designer leather jacket and gelled hair looked massively out of place even compared to his cronies, who looked far more dressed down, "Come on, I wanted to see how that old man was doin'! Brought flowers and everything!"

Gwen grit her teeth as old man Jenkins walked up to him with crutches. It was his idea to do this, "Ain't nothin' for you here. Get lost."

"Ooh, big talk comin' from a guy who can't even stand up straight." The cocky bastard actually kicked one of the crutches away and Jenkins fell on his side. Gwen recorded everything, "You listen to me, ya old fuck, ya don't talk shit to me. You know who I am, huh?! You want me to break your other leg?!" His cronies spread out and began to drag people from their tents and shacks.

That was enough. Gwen swung down behind them and said loudly, "Gentlemen! What's going on here?" she asked, face casual. All four of them turned around and leader's face turned white as a sheet when he saw her. Typical bully; didn't want to fight someone who could hit back. The people who got dragged from their homes used the shock as a chance to knock the cronies off and run out of sight.

"Shut...uh, nothin! Just..." Ringleader looked at old man Jenkins and knelt down, "Just helping this old man out."

He couldn't even be bothered to not look disgusted as he helped him up. The old bum gave the entitled bully a death glare and yanked his arm back so he could stand on his own. Gwen narrowed her eyes in a doubting look, "Really? Cause it looks to me that you were assaulting him and threatening to 'break his other leg'. And trying to do something bad to others here. You maybe wanna tell the truth or should I ask him instead?" She looked to old man Jenkins.

"He...He's been comin' here for weeks, attacking anyone cause he thinks he can get away with-"

"Fuck, they're just bums!" Ringleader screamed. She found it more than a little weird that his cronies didn't say anything or even try to slink away, "Look, it ain't a big fucking deal. Just turn around and walk away. Don't you have some cats to save or something?"

"So you want me to just turn around and pretend I didn't just see you assault this guy? That about right?" she asked back, voice dripping heavy with sarcasm, "Better idea. Why don't you come with me to the police station so you can explain to the police why you should be allowed to get away with assaulting innocent people."

For a second she thought the guy would be stupid enough to throw a punch. Instead he ran past her with his cronies right behind him, all of them splitting off into different directions. Gwen sighed and, without turning around shot two lines of webbing behind her and caught two of the cronies in the back before tugging them to the floor. The third and last cronie suddenly stopped and fell to the ground convulsing. Norah stepped out from behind a nearby shack and holstered her tazer gun with a grin.

Ringleader was almost out when Peter appeared in a rush of smoke, grabbed him by the collar and headbutted him. A couple of teeth flew off, but she didn't feel too bad for him, "Nice one." Norah grinned and Gwen gave her the camera, "I'll make sure everyone knows exactly what Mr. Justin Hammer here was getting up to in his free time."

"Hammer's a big name in this place. Sure his daddy won't just buy the press off?" Peter asked.

"They can try, but Robbie's gotten threats from the Maggia before. A CEO isn't gonna be the breaking point." She pocketed the camera, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Tony Stark's going to be really invested in making sure this makes the news. His business rival covering up his son assaulting the homeless? It's Christmas come early for him."

"Right...well, I'll go check on Jenkins and the others then we can go."

Peter made sure all of them were alright and, after saying their goodbyes, they made the walk back the train station for Queens. Gwen held onto his right hand and squeezed it, "Remember, your promised to teach me how to cook." Her mom and the Parkers were leaving in a few hours back to France.

"How could I forget? I've been preparing my will ever since you asked me." She slapped the back of his head and pouted. She wasn't  _that_  bad; she only burned her toast (and her toaster...and the fridge) one time! "Come on, we gotta get started if you wanna surprise your mom."

An hour later Gwen, Peter and Webster were in her kitchen and locked the door to keep anyone else from interrupting. Peter suggested something simple - spaghetti, garlic bread and some French dessert she couldn't pronounce, "Pass me that bowl, Webs." Webster slithered under the far-off bowl, lifted it then waddled over to where she was mixing together the sauce. Even she couldn't mess this up.

Peter was close by and mixing the chocolate cream. Webster set the bowl down next to her then slithered over to him and peeked over the edge at the brown confection. She could smell it from here, "Hey, none of that." Peter lightly smacked the blob's head when she tried to dip down and lick.

**"I'm hungry..."**

"It'll taste better when we finish."

**"But..."**

Peter sighed and, without taking his hand off the bowl, pulled out a smaller bowl from another cabinet and set it down next to Webster, "Here are the leftovers."

**"Thank you. I can see why Gwen loves you."**

"Yeah, yeah..."

Gwen's lips curled up in a smile at the absurdity of the situation. Here they were - Spider-Man and Spider-Woman - preparing a meal for her family, which included her step-mom with super strength, her birth mom who came back from the dead and her dad, Ben and May who survived way too much the last year. All while her other partner took a chocolate bath like Miser McChicken.

And despite it all it felt normal and she was happy. She wouldn't have traded this for all the celebrity dinners and and cheering crowds in the world.

Soon enough they were all sitting on the living room and watching an episode of Catching Predators...featuring Spider-Woman. Yeah, she let Shulkie talk her into it a couple of months ago. She'd actually forgotten all about it - always more things to do - till her mom suddenly brought it up and even came with a freaking disc, cause apparently she still hadn't gotten the memo that everything was online now.

TV her dropped down from a web behind a guy, "Hey, what's up? Why don't you have a seat right over there?" She almost felt bad for the guy when he started begging about how he didn't want to go to jail. Then she had to read their messages, constant dick pics and found out that almost all of them had condoms, alcohol, a switchblade ( _that_  wasn't supposed to be there, he said) and, bizarrely, lemonade.

The less said about the guy who brought  _his own kid_ , the better...

Gwen leaned against Peter and smiled. Her mom was to Peter's left and she was holding onto Helena while the baby occasionally giggled and tapped at the older Stacy's face. Peter ocassionally glared down at the little Spider-Man tsum that Helena still refused to part with.

If she could frame one thing this would've been it. Just the her and the people she loved having stupid fun without a care in the world.

The 45 minute mark had passed and TV her was interviewing a guy who claimed to be meeting a 70 year old when Peter excused himself and left for the backyard. Gwen followed after him with only a little hesitation and found him sitting on the porch with a cigarette between his lips. She really didn't like that habit of his.

"Hey...something wrong?" She sat to his right.

"Just thinking about the people in the encampment. Ever since Martin...died it's really only been sister Maggie who goes in to help them. Summers helps here and there, but still." He sighed, "Maybe I need to ask Page another favor."

"Just take it slow, Pete. There's no need to carry the world on your shoulders."

"That's rich coming from you." He laughed softly and tapped the end of the cigarette, just watching the ashes fall down to the wood, "...You've been telling me you want me to enroll in ESU. "

"Yeah...why, are you thinking about it?" She couldn't stop herself from sounding hopeful at that. He raised the cigarette to take another drag and she grabbed it out of his hand before crushing it in her fist. No distractions, "You were saying?"

"Try to be normal, you say..." He frowned, "...Look, if we really wanna do that then I can't just take classes. I mean, who'd pay for it?"

"I could-"

"No," he interrupted quickly, "It's something I've been thinking about for a while. You know how I paid for my old place." Taking from some of the criminals he stopped. She didn't hold it against him. She'd seen firsthand that he didn't splurge and the place itself was, pardon her for being judgy, and absolute craphole, "I've been getting asked recently what my plans are. If I'm just going to keep being Spider-man forever."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that...maybe I should be Peter Parker too," he said slowly, "Or Ben Reilly or whatever name I come up with. Cindy's made a life for herself here so I'm thinking I should too." He let go of her hand and rubbed his stubbled jaw, "That means being more than just Spider-Man and waiting for the clock to tick down before I put on the mask again."

"So...you  _are_  going to ESU?"

"Maybe at some point. First things first, I need a job." He laughed wryly at that, "Mary's working at the theatre. Maybe I could ask her to recommend me...assumin' no one recognizes my ugly mug."

"You could always join the Initiative. Like Lana."

"Only reason that worked out for her is cause her waste of skin dad's the mayor. Killing that bastard in Times Square got me some leeway, but I don't wanna push it. Besides..." He smirked, "I was never really good at the Superhero gig."

"I disagree." She held his hand again, "You can still go to ESU. I don't mind paying your tuition."

" _I_  mind."

She huffed out an annoyed breath. He was so  _stubborn_ , him and MJ both. She tugged him towards her and kissed him, ignoring the lingering taste of nicotine on his tongue. It took a while but she was finally getting used to the idea that he was here to stay. Sure things were still fucked in some ways - Murdock and his old ninja pals came to mind - but they could fix that.

Gwen barely deepened the kiss before she heard a crash back in the living room. She and Peter practically had to step over each other to get there first and when they both arrived she froze.

"Evening, Ms. Stacy." Murderdock turned his head slightly in her direction and smiled. Her dad and Jess looked furious while her mom kept back and held Helena tightly while Ben and May stood guard in front of her, "I came to pick up Peter for an excursion, I'm afraid I interrupted your get-together. My apologies."

"Matt..." Peter looked like he was about to shoot him right between the eyes. Gwen wouldn't have stopped him.

"You weren't picking up your phone, so I got worried." He looked to her mom and Helena with a smile, "I'm glad you're doing well, Helen. None the worse for wear from last year's events? And is that your namesake you're holding? I can't see her, but I assume she's adorable. All babies are apparently.."

Seeing him talk to her mom and Helena like he was an old friend was the last straw. Gwen saw red and, before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed Murdock with both hands; one on his collar and the other on his arm, **"Don't talk to them!"**  She twisted him around by his right arm, breaking it again in the process, and dragged him to the backdoor before throwing him through it painfully.

Murderdock rolled across the ground and she was already on him, one hand stomping his neck even as his remaining good arm feebly gripped her ankle. It would've been  _so easy_  to press down just a little more and snap the bone entirely, "Gwen-" Peter put a hand on her arm and when she turned to look at him her eyes were inhumanly wide and white while veins ran along her neck up to her jaw. Her open snarl showed fanged teeth.

"...I think I upset her, Peter." Murderdock smiled through his bloody teeth.

**'Calm down, Gwen. He's not a danger.'**

Peter pulled her back before she could stomp his face, "I need him alive." He looked ill as he was saying it. Gwen let Peter pull her back and took a deep breath to calm herself. Her face went back to normal and she could only thank small fortunes that everyone else stayed inside. She didn't want them to see her like that, so out of control and ready to break her own code. Even if that bastard deserved it.

Murderdock stood up shakily and spat out a bloody wad of saliva, "Well, that was-" Peter punched him in the face. Hard. Somehow he managed to stay upright after stumbling back, though his right arm still hung uselessly. Good. He deserved it.

Footsteps came from behind. Gwen looked back and saw three more figures step over the broken (gonna have to pay for that...) door, two of which she recognized. Moon Knight and Iron Fist she knew, but the third one was a mystery to her. A woman in a dark, patchwork ninja costume with a katana held in her hand. Iron Fist stayed back to talk with her dad and Jess while the remaining two walked closer to them.

"Ms. Stacy." Moon Knight nodded. The ninja woman moved her shoulders a bit and didn't look at her. Rude.

"...Hope no one saw you walk up to my house," she muttered back bitterly. The last thing she needed was anyone making connections.

"We took precautions. It helps that this place is oddly barren at night." Moon Knight turned to Peter, "Come, we must deal with Sowande."

"Found him already?"

"Mercenaries being hired en masse tend to make waves." Murderdock rubbed his jaw and let out a soft breath, "It probably helps that you have a bounty on your head. Makes soldiers of fortune very eager to risk their lives."

"You have a what?!" She rounded to Peter and he stepped back at the loudness of her voice, "You have a bounty?! Since when?!"

"Damn it, knew I forgot something..." Peter muttered, looking  _way_  less worried than he should have been.

"You forgot?!"

"I've been dealing with a lot of things. Between the demons, Bullseye coming back and dealing with Page it honestly just slipped my mind. I wasn't hiding it from you." She narrowed her eyes at him and he held up both hands, "I didn't lie to you, I promise."

"Fuck..." She rubbed both her temples and shut her eyes, trying to calm herself, "Alright, fine. How big is it?" Probably wasn't much if it really slipped his mind.

"It's just-"

"30 million dollars." Both their heads snapped to Murderdock, Gwen's with utter shock while Peter sported a murderous glare, "That's only the current bounty, mind you. Given this we can assume it's someone with a personal grudge. The government didn't give that much of a bounty for Crossbones and he was Red Skull's main enforcer."

"30 million-" Webster moved Gwen's arm to cover her mouth so her scream could be muffled. Moon Knight just watched passively while Ninja Girl sighed and nudged her head, indicating she wanted to go, "30 million dollars?!" she said in a harsh whisper, "Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"I only found out a week ago, and after that we dealt with Blackout and Bullseye stabbed me in the gut. Didn't seem immediate." He glared at Murderdock again. The blind bastard just shrugged without a care, "I don't see how it's much different. People already want my head, money or not. We live dangerous lives."

She sorely wanted to disagree, but she couldn't. She knew exactly what he meant. The same way her dad's badge was a symbol it was also a target. Every time she put on the mask she was just inviting people to shoot at her, "...I still don't like this." That didn't mean she was wrong to worry about her boyfriend a _30 million_  price tag on his head. She crossed her arms and looked to Moon Knight, "Where are you all going, anyway?"

"Sowande, one of the Fingers of the Hand. He uses mercenaries as his main source of manpower. I heard tells of a gathering taking place in Brooklyn and we plan to cut off the head of the snake while we have the chance."

"Then I'm coming with you-"

"No-"

"Fuck off," she countered immediately, surprising even Moon Knight, "I just found out my boyfriend has a price on his head and you want me to, what, sit on my ass do nothing. Did you forget I'm Spider-Woman?"

"No one doubts your abilities, Ms. Stacy. I daresay you're stronger than all of us here combined," Murderdock said. She didn't even bother to look at him, "However, we don't need overwhelming power. Make no mistake: we're planning an assassination. Sowande is too influential to leave alive, and we need to maintain a low profile during this. Having Spider-Woman goes against that."

"Says the guy running around dressed like a devil," she spat back.

"He does have a point," Peter muttered, "The last thing you need is to get tied into this mess. Wouldn't look very good for Spider-Woman or the Avengers." Gwen grit her teeth. Captain America warned her multiple times she was already pushing her luck just hanging out with Peter in the open despite him technically still being a wanted vigilante. The only reason she hadn't gotten into more trouble was because of the built-up goodwill.

"But..."

"There's something else I could use your help with. You heard the name Roxxon before?" She nodded slowly, "The first stooge that came after me said the one ponying up the dough for this is Roxxon corp. Must be someone high up on the chain if they can afford so much."

"You think I can do this?"

"You have a better chance than I do with that fancy Avengers card." Peter smiled wryly, "We'll deal with Sowande then we can deal with the bounty. Okay?"

"...I still don't like this." She looked pointedly at Murderdock who just continued to smile, "Make sure to call me when you finish, okay?"

"Promise."

She shared a quick embrace with him and then watched them all go. Poor Iron Fist went last, still apologizing to everyone inside for Murderdock's fucked up behavior. Gwen went inside and immediately went to her mom and Helena, "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." The older Stacy's words were shaky, "I just...I didn't expect to ever see him again. I mean I saw the news, but..." She held Helena tighter. Her little sister had gone quiet and looked close to crying.

"Why's Peter working with that...monster?" May asked softly.

"It's...It's a long story." One she didn't want to share if she could. She sighed and turned to Jess, "Jess...I need your help with something."

* * *

 **HtForTic:** So real talk, anyone notice that Spider-Woman got  _way_  stronger like a year ago? Like before it was just webswinging, wall crawling and the occasional car lifting. Now she can toss trains and make tentacles and shit.

 **lIshYTiOn** : Yeah. She didn't say anything about it, but she definitely got a power up. Where do you guys think she got it?

 **ThatDoesn'tAddUpt:** She said she got bit by a radioactive spider a year ago, right? Then again we know the whole 'me and Spinerette got bit at the same time' thing is bull cause Spinerette's from another dimension.

 **STRAtERGYNa:** Not surprised they had to lie about some stuff. I mean, you never know who might be listening in. Imagine if every criminal knew what Spider-Woman's webbing was made out of and made counters to it?

 **PHERab0LE:** So? Cops run around with open identities and standard issue gear, why can't she?

 **STRAtERGYNa:** Cops don't have to deal with Supervillains, my dude. Remember the Carnage Killer and Jack-o-Lantern? It wasn't the cops that stopped them.

 **OpERnOuST:**  Off topic, but anyone else think Spider-Man might be from another dimension too? I know they said he was Peter Parker but he acted way different for a while there.

 **ThatDoesn'tAddUpt:**  Yeah, next you're gonna say Matt Murdock became a hero or something.

 **OpERnOuST:**  Just a thought.

 **HtForTic:** So no clue why Spider-Woman's got tentacles now? Back to the drawing board, I guess...

* * *

She got the modeling gig.

MJ sat at the edge of the tall building and continued to look down at the letter. She read through the paper again to make sure she got it right, "Congratulations, Ms. Watson. You successfully passed the audition and..." And it went on and on, but the basic gist of it was clear: she was a model now and she could expect to get called in within the week for jobs.

It was an odd feeling. One part elated and the other with spiders in her stomach. She'd really only taken the gig because of the upfront cash deal and to give her dad some time, though lord only knew why she even cared about that guy. She always expected to find him either face down in an alley

 ** _'What's the big deal?'_  **Crimson groused,  ** _'You're already playing hero with Stacy and you have that band again. Do you need even_ more  _attention?'_**

 _'Shut it.'_ She pulled out an envelope from her 'pocket' and looked at the contents. A few thousand dollars, at least. The letter said it was a signing bonus. Personally she thought Kingsley was just a bit too loose with his cash, but she wasn't going to complain. That and the guy was one of those quirky people. The kind of people who'd be called weird if they didn't have money to burn.

Time to pay back her dad's debt.

She pressed her phone against her ear and called Mr. Southern Accent. He had an actual name, Fancy Dan or some crap, but she wasn't gonna call him that, "Hey there, sweetheart? Feelin' lonely?" She rolled her eyes. Despite his assurance that 'favors' weren't on the table he sure loved to make comments about his 'feelers'. It was too bad he made her skin crawl; he actually wasn't that bad looking.

"I've got the rest of that money. Where do you wanna meet?"

"That soon? Damn, you models make the big bucks, huh?"

"Just tell me where we're doing the exchange before I change my mind and let that piece of shit out to dry."

"Ooh, sounds like there are issues there." He whistled, "Well, don't matter to me none. Let's meet up in front of daddy dearest's place. Sure you wanna tell him the good news when we've finished our little transaction." Something about the way he said that last part rubbed her wrong. Brushing it off, Mary Jane put on her mask and swung over to the ratty neighborhood her dad lived.

She changed into a tanktop, jeans and sneakers and waited for the guy to show. It took about 10 minutes before he finally got there, purple suit and all, "Kept you waitin' long, darlin'?" She narrowed her eyes and practically shoved the envelope into his chest. A shame to see it all go, but she just wanted to finish this. She'd have to keep doing the theater gig for a while.

"There. We're finished."

She turned to walk away when he suddenly called out, "Oh, hold on a second, sweetheart." Ugh, what was with the nicknames? She turned around and watched him meticulously count the hundred dollar bills before frowning. Not a good sign, "This is a good stack ya got here, but I'm afraid it's not enough."

"What? No, I counted it! You have-"

"Enough for the initial debt. But ya see, ol Philly cheese steak there borrowed more a couple days ago." The words didn't take long to sink in and she was shocked silent. Mr. Southern Accent took it as cue to continue, "I know, I was surprised too! But since you started payin' off his debts his credit was good again and he was so sure he'd get a hot streak at this new place. He didn't, if you were curious."

"...How much does he owe you now?"

"Oh, about 10,000 dollars. That's  _after_  this payment, by the by. He did not a have good run."

To say Mary Jane was livid was an understatement. She'd agreed to bail him out and he just went back into it; just like she  _knew_  (should have known) he would. White-hot fury surged through her and she turned and stomped up to his apartment, ignoring Southern Accent calling out that he expected the next payment as soon as possible. She was pissed, both at him and herself. What did she expect to happen? Why did she think anything different?

_**'I told you we should have killed him.'** _

"Hey, open up!" She knocked on the door hard enough to crack the surface of the wood. It was a small miracle she hadn't broken it down entirely, "I said open up!" She screamed louder. No one bothered to look out and check on the noise. Place like this, it wasn't rare.

Nothing. Mary Jane grit her teeth and, losing all patience, kicked the door down straight off its hinges. She heard two screams and she wished she was surprised when she saw her dad and  _another_  prostitute on the bed. She could only thank small mercies that his pants were still on, "Out!" She jerked her thumb to the door. The older woman, whose skin showed the telltale sign of meth use, looked like she was tempted to argue before thinking better of it and scurrying out of the door.

"Mary Jane-"

She didn't let him finish. The irate redhead grabbed him by his jaw and smashed him against the wall, hand covering his mouth and keeping him from talking. Red flesh covered the skin of her hand and she felt the veins run up her neck, "You useless piece of shit!" she hissed, her grip around the lower of his face tightening, "I try to help you and you just waste it! Again!"

He tried to say something, but his words came out muffled and garbled. It was obvious by where his eyes looked that he saw Crimson seeping out.

"I dunno what I expected. Maybe I thought I'd give you another chance, or that I felt guilty for what I did." The tip of her fingers and pierced skin and blood dribbled down her hand, ** _"I'm done. Enjoy that grave you dug yourself."_**

She let him drop to the ground. He fell on his ass and looked up at her, gaping and gasping. Mary Jane stared down at him coldly and turned around. Crimson whispered in her ear, urged her to rip his jaw off, but she ignored it. He was a dead man walking anyway.

Mary Jane was halfway to the exit when he finally managed to speak, "It was you..." She stopped and didn't turn around, "A year ago, that monster who tried to kill me...it was  _you_."

He thought she'd feel guilty.  _Mary Jane_ thought she'd feel guilty too. Instead her mouth curled up in a sneer and she finally turned to look at him, "Yeah. And I almost wish I went through with it." The coldness in her words surprised even her, "You're worthless waste of skin, 'dad', and I'm done bailing you out. Don't talk to me, mom or Gayle again or I'll come back and finish the job."

"I'll...I'll tell-"

"Who? The cops? The papers? **_Who'd believe you?_** " She laughed, soft and forced, "Do you know how many people talk about how they have powers or how they're related to someone special? You're a drunk 'author' who couldn't write a book to save his life. They'll just think you're another crazy asshole who drank too much. No, you aren't blackmailing me and I'm done listening to you."

"They'll kill me..." He looked so pathetic, face scrunched up and seconds from bawling. She almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

"Good luck with that."

Mr. Southern Accent was gone by the time she got down. She texted him that her dad could handle his own debts and to lose her number before changing back in the alley and swinging through the air again. She felt...good. She left her dad to die and she felt  _good_. Was it wrong for her to feel that way?

**_'That was fun.'_ **

_'Don't start.'_

_**'What? I'm being serious.'**_ She rolled her eyes and landed on a nearby high building, ' ** _It would've been better if you killed him, but this was fun too. I thought you'd just help him out again.'_**

_'And why the hell would I do that?'_

**_'It's what Stacy would have done.'_ **

Her mouth twitched and she just barely held herself back from punching the ground in sudden frustration. Would Gwen have saved her piece of shit of a 'dad'? She hated the idea of people dying, but she never let supervills with sob stories go just cause they had a bad childhood.

And she never had to deal with a useless sack of shit of a dad. Captain Stacy was a lot of things, but he wasn't a bad father. She always envied her, Glory and Betty for that. All of them had great relationships with their dads. They didn't have to look back at memories like being taught how to ride bikes and think about how tainted those images had become later or wonder if he ever really cared or just pretended to.

Well, it wasn't her problem anymore.

**_'What do you say we get back to business?'_ **

_'If you mean killing then no, don't push your luck.'_ She hadn't talked to Norah in days. She was scared she'd be tempted to slide back into old habits when she inevitably asked about the people that slipped through the cracks, "

 ** _'But why not?'_  **The whine in its voice almost made her laugh.

 _'Because I don't want to.'_ Not yet, she didn't say, but they both knew it was implied.

Her argument was cut off when she saw a shadowy figure swinging between two low buildings. Gwen going on patrol? Either her or Cindy. Still better than spending the night alone, at least. The figure stopped on top of a small office building and Mary Jane swung down. If they were going on patrol then she could tag along. It'd help take her mind off of da-  _Philip_.

The first thing that came to mind when she got a closer look was that it wasn't Gwen or Cindy. The Black Cat turned around when she landed and her lips curled in a smirk, "Scarlet Spider. I'd heard that you were out and about again." Mary Jane stood stock still and didn't say anything back, "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" She laughed at her own joke. Dweeb.

"Ah, shut up..." She rolled her eyes. Felicia had left along with the rest of the Defenders sans Lana a year ago. She only found out weeks later when there were sightings of her in France, back in her home. How she was running around so openly she had no idea, but she had to guess Felicia made a deal with S.H.I.E.L.D or something, "I heard from Cindy that you were back."

"Yes. Working with the police on lease."

A scream came from close by. Mary Jane looked across the street and frowned when she saw a little old lady getting her purse snatched by a pale young woman. Another druggie by the looks of her, "Oh for fuck's..." She swung over just as the junkie came out of the alley and clocked her right in the jaw. She fell like a sack and Mary Jane picked up the purse as the old lady came out of the alley panting.

"Th-Thank you..."

"No prob. Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"

"N-No, but my medication's inside. Asthma."

"O-Oh, here!" She handed the purse back in a rush. The old lady smiled gratefully and took a quick puff from the inhaler, "Are you sure you're okay? Do you need me to take you somewhere?"

"No, but thank you." The woman took a 20 out of her pocket, "Here, for your trouble."

"O-Oh, no. I didn't do it for that." She held up both hands and stepped back. This was so weird, "Just make sure you get home okay and we're even."

"Thank you, young lady. Little Vito'll be so excited when I tell him I met a superhero. He's a big fan."

 _'Hero...'_ She watched the woman go then swung up to the nearby building out of sight. Saving that old lady felt good, but it also reminded her of what she'd just done with her dad. Yeah he deserved it, and no she had no urge to go back and bail him out, but...

Felicia landed behind her, "So your little bout into heroism was genuine." Mary Jane turned and Felicia leaned against the wall near the fire escape, "Personally I still don't see the point."

"Says the popstar thief working for the police." Mary Jane smiled wryly.

"That's work...and a favor owed."

"Yeah...I heard about Murdock." The former(?) thief frowned, "Surprised you let him live."

"Karen Page offered a compelling deal. My father's worth more than revenge." Even  _Felicia_  had a great relationship with her dad. It felt like the universe was just making fun of her now, "Still, I guess I can't be too surprised. Spending so much time around Spider-Woman would likely convince anyone to suicidal charity."

Felicia didn't know about her killings.  _Would she even care_ , the cynical part of her (which was growing larger by the day) wondered. She definitely didn't hesitate to team up with Punisher or Bullseye when it meant getting the revenge she so desperately wanted. If she told her would she even react or just make some joke about how Gwen must not have known if they were still friends.

Joke would've been on her. Gwen knew and they were still friends.

Her bitter musings were cut off by the nearby bigscreens suddenly fizzing out. Both she and Felicia looked when they came back to life and a man with a wrinkly face, curly red hair appeared. He an all white suit with a green bowtie that looked hilariously out of place, "Hello, New York!" Mary Jane flinched. His voice sounded like a dying chimpanzee, "Arcade here with a special surprise for all of you!"

"What the fuck?" Mary Jane muttered.

"That's Arcade. He's an assassin...ostensibly. In truth he's more a madman who spends money to kill people for fun." Felicia scoffed, "He's a sick little man."

"I have a show for you all!" Arcade sang, "Now normally I'd keep this event for paying customers and participants, but my new client is paying so much that I decided, why not let everyone else in on the fun? After all, we've got some special, never before seen guests!"

The screen changed images and Mary Jane's insides turned cold. There was Peter, mask and costume and all, slumped against the wall with a beeping collar around his neck. Around him on the wall and on the floor were a few others - Murdock, Moon Knight, Iron Fist and a woman in a ninja outfit - all of them in full costume and equally unconscious. They all had collars on their necks too.

"That's..."

"It looks like Spider's gotten himself in trouble again." Mary Jane's phone rang, but she was still too frozen in shock to respond, "Something tells me Arcade won't be surviving the night when he wakes up."

Mary Jane ignored her and answered the call. They had to find that place.  ** _Now_**.

* * *

 **gyphypTA:** Holy crap, did everyone see the broadcast just now?!

 **TrisTERmidara:** Yeah. Is it legit?

 **FactChecker:**  Think so. That's Arcade. He's on the world's most wanted list.  **-embedded link-**

 **SasukeUzumaki:** They said he was the one who kidnapped a bunch of celebs in Vegas. Not surprised he's moving onto Superheroes.

 **Noobmaster69:**  Something tells me he bit off more than can chew. Ten bucks says Spider-Man shoots him through the mouth before the night's done.

 **TrisTERmidara:** Nah. Twenty that Spider-Man and his entire team bite it. Arcade's never been caught for a reason.

 **ClintEdwards:**  Those are people. You guys are sick...

 **gyphypTA:** Man, Spider-Woman's gonna be  _pissed_  when she finds out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woof, good thing I postponed the Gwen and Noir segment to this chapter. It ended up being 5000 words long and would've bloated the last chapter. The second segment was also supposed to focus on Noir and show how he got got captured, but I put in Mary Jane instead because Noir gets the majority, if the entire, next chapter for himself and his group. I'll just explain how they got there next update.
> 
> Speaking of, Noir and the Defenders vs Arcade's Murderworld! Probably shouldn't have ignored that 30 million bounty on your head. Oh well, at least now we get some action for Noir. He's been pretty lacking in it lately. That and a baddie that's despicable enough that we'll see a return of the much more anti-heroic Noir from V1.
> 
> And don't worry, this does tie into the main plot. Arcade's not a filler villain.
> 
> I know some people are annoyed that Gwen's segment was focused on Noir, but don't worry she gets plot focus when the pregnancy comes up and Noir gets involved in her side. Tit for tat.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. So...I wonder if I could ever write Gwen as being able to forgive Matt - or at least tolerate him - without it coming across as absolute BS. Since he's sticking around for a while and interacting with MJ I wonder if I should have him interact with Gwen more or she just pretends he doesn't exist to avoid breaking his jaw.
> 
> 2\. Is Noir specifically on too many teams? One reader commented on how weird it is that he's on so many groups like the V2 Defenders, the group with the other protagonists, his friendship with Daimon and Ketch etc etc.
> 
> 3\. Should the protags me more emotional and less in-control? Lana getting shotgunned in the face and experiencing no trauma stuck out as odd to a friend when he read through it.


	19. Fun and Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long. My anxiety has spiked severely in recent days and this chapter itself was...it felt odd to write. Mostly cause Arcade, despite his goofy character and looks, is essentially the horror movie villains like Jigsaw or the Collector. So this entire chapter came across as T-rated horror torture and angst, especially since I took traps from well-known horror movies.
> 
> Which, again, fits into Arcade's most well known roles - particularly Avengers Arena where he made teenagers murder each other Battle Royale style - but does clash pretty heavily with the (relatively) lighter tone of V2. This'll be the last time I do something like this for a while. Hopefully the next chapters are far lighter.
> 
> On a power related note - final votes are 23 for webswinging/wallcrawling, 21 for Spider Trigger and 11 for gadgets. I got a sudden spike in votes for the first two in the last week. So it looks like Noir'll start getting the resident Spider powerset and won't be getting ethereal spider arms/more gadgets.
> 
> Next vote will be for MJ's possible love interest. Oh, and no tweeter segments here. I'll save that for the next chapter.

Peter woke up with a muted groan and flinched the bright light overhead almost blinded him. His right hand grabbed his throbbing head and he shut his eyes again as the throbbing slowly died down. It wasn't drugs; those wouldn't have worked on him. Judging by the sore spot on the left side of his head it was probably a big blow...

_The man in the green suit grinned and smashed his fist down on his prone body._

Right, now he remembered. Sowande's little meeting was a trap. All those mercenaries, all that money and setup; just to lure the five of them into that mousehole. They'd barely managed to take down the mercs before all the doors and windows were cut off with reinforced metal and the entire place got gassed. He lasted longer than everyone else, though they did pretty well with their chi and gas masks, but eventually they sent that giant palooka in the green suit in and the rest was history.

He finally opened his eyes again and pulled himself up. The room he was in was long and narrow gray, lacking anything in the way of features on the walls and floor...except for the other end. That wall was covered in long, thin slits with circular saw blades - at least a dozen per column - sticking out. At the center of the saws was a hole with chains extending to the floor to where he was.

There were six chains. He looked around and found the others all waking up groggily with a couple already making to stand shakily. Peter gripped the chain in front of him and traced it to the end where it was attached to a collar around his neck, the circular metal beeping softly. Explosive if he had to guess. It wasn't his first time with a bomb collar.

"Well, we're in quite a pickle, aren't we?"

Matt grinned and offered him a hand. Peter stared at the offered limb witheringly and stood up on his own, "Where are we?" He saw Rand grabbing at his collar next to him and immediately grabbed his hands, "Don't. These collars are likely explosive. Fiddle with em and they go boom."

"Explosive?!" Rand gaped, his shock clear even through his half-mask. Another thing he noticed; their masks were still on. Hell, there were still alive. Any half-decent criminal or mercenary would've taken their masks, probably as a trophy, then shot em all in the head. Instead they were still here, still breathing with collars around their necks. That was a mistake.

The others were fully awake now. Spector looked around the room then down at the chains, "Hmph. Does anyone have their weaponry?" They all looked at their pockets and holsters and came up empty. Echo stared down at where her sheath should have been and slammed the side of her right fist against the wall, her glare clear even through her mask. She still didn't make a sound.

Rand looked sick, "Are you alright?" Peter asked.

"Y-Yeah. Head just feels groggy..." he mumbled.

"Probably the drugs. I'm finding it difficult to 'see' as well," Matt said, "Whoever brought us here wishes to toy with us, it seems. That's the only reason I can assume that we retained our masks."

A sudden screeching sound overhead made them all almost collapse to the floor. Peter gripped the wall to keep himself steady when he heard giggling overhead. He looked up and grimaced at the holographic figure standing above them. A red haired guy with an awful haircut in a shockingly white suit with red and green highlights holding a crystal tipped cane with both hands. He looked out of place in the utilitarian room they were in.

"Welcome, welcome! You all took a while to wake up!" Peter cringed. Guy's voice was like nails on a chalkboard, "Hope you had a pleasant nap?"

"Could've been worse." Lockley said, adjusting the collar idly, "I recognize you. Arcade, right?"

"Oooh, looks like we have a fan from the participants!" He giggled again.

"No, I've just heard about you from some of other, competent villains. You're their little running joke. The assassin who needs a mousetrap to do all the fighting for him." Just barely, the redhead's right brow twitched. Lockley smelled blood and raised up his mask up to his nose to expose his wide grin, "Now why don't you tell us how you plan to kill us so we can escape and put you where you belong? We were kinda busy dealing with someone  _actually_  important."

" _Someone's_  confident! Good, you'll need that." The chains attached to their necks suddenly raised and snapped taut. Peter grabbed a hold of it automatically, "Well, I feel like you should know that, while my main target is Spider-Man, I don't mind adding you all as a group package. That man you were going after seemed very insistent on it, in fact. Even added a cool mil per head on top of Spider-Man's 30."

So this was because of the bounty. Peter looked down at the chain and gripped it tightly. He didn't have much affection for anyone in the group, especially Matt, but he still didn't like the idea of them being dragged into his problems. His problem, his consequences.

"But enough about the hows and whys. I need to explain the rules of the game!" He giggled (first thing he'd do when they got out was rip the bastard's tongue clean off) and bright lights suddenly shone overhead, "Now, while I was told to kill you all, I don't like the idea of just shooting you in the head. No class, no pizzazz! So, instead we're going to play a game."

"What's he talking about?" Rand muttered next to him, clearly still under the effects of something. Peter didn't reply.

"We'll go through room to room testing your skills. For the sake of fairness I made sure each and every room is beatable." His spider-sense didn't ring. The white suited gremlin was telling the truth there, at least, "And considering you're all heroes it shouldn't be too hard for you. I do hope you last longer than my last contestants. You'd think celebrities and cosplayers would do better, but they didn't last past the second room!"

Peter looked to the saws again. He could take more hits than the average person, but those many cleaving through flesh would still kill him.

"And of course I don't want to be the only one having fun, so I'm broadcasting this to all of New York." Peter bared his teeth in a snarl. This was reminding him way too much of that pumpkin headed bastard, "So everyone, I hope you all put on your best performance! Wouldn't want to disappoint the audience now, would we? Especially you, Spider-Man. Your better half's watching."

"Go to Hell." Matt chuckled at the 'joke'.

"Now, first things first, your clue: we need a price for this event, so first blood wins. Go!"

Then the chains pulled them forward and the saws started spinning.

* * *

"Now, first things first, your clue: we need a price for this event, so first blood wins. Go!"

This was a nightmare. Gwen watched, unable to tear her eyes away, as all five of them were pulled towards the spinning blades. All of them tried to hold their ground or grab at the walls, but the chains kept pulling them closer and closer to the end. Peter shot a net of webbing to the ground behind him to slow the pull. It only took seconds for a laser to pop out of the wall and cut through it it.

"Ah, ah, ah! None of that!" Arcade's voice taunted, "Come on, there's no point in prolonging the inevitable. Just pay the price so we can get started on the main event!"

Iron Fist gripped his chain with both hands and tilted it upwards towards the saws. There was a brief spark of metal meeting metal before he was suddenly jerked forward and fell on his front, "Those chains are vibranium, FYI. You aren't going to be cutting through it," Arcade said, sing-song. Iron Fist scrambled to stand and her stomach dropped when she saw how much closer he was to the end.

Both her hands balled into shaky fists and it took everything she had not to punch the TV in a rage. None of them deserved this, not even Murdock, and that bastard was treating it all like it was some kind of fucking game. She wanted to reach across the screen, pull them all out and make the bastard who was doing this  **pay**.

**'Gwen, you need to calm down.'** Webster said worriedly. Gwen ignored her and kept watching, still rooted to the spot. All around her people were scrambling or similarly frozen. Cindy was screaming into her phone (Gwen didn't know who was on the other end) while Norah took up position on the kitchen table and tried to trace where the signal was coming from. Mary Jane sat next to her and tried to help as best she could while her dad and Jess pored over a map as Norah listed off multiple locations.

Ben and May were on the couch behind her. May had fainted when the saws turned on and Ben was splitting his time between looking after her and paying attention to the 'game'. Lana paced around all over the living, her body occasionally arcing with energy and muttering to herself. Her mom held Helena close on the corner seat, the baby crying softly like she sensed their distress.

And then Peter stopped struggling and started walking towards the saws. Gwen wanted to scream, but her voice caught in her throat and she could only watch as he pulled the wrist of his jacket back to expose a pale arm, "Hoho, looks like one of you finally wised up!" He pressed his wrist to the edge of the closest blade and blood spattered across the screen. Her mom screamed and Helena started crying in full force.

But the blades stopped. Everyone else immediately followed Peter's lead and let their hands or wrists get cut up to make the blades stop. A silence settled over the room, broken only by Helena's crying and Lana's muttering, "Looks like our contestants won their first round! A price paid in blood is the most valuable of all, right?" The bastard's hologram shrugged, "I thought it was pretty obvious."

The walls with the saws suddenly pulled back and the five were dragged to the next room, "We'll be taking a bit of a break, ladies and gents, but get ready because the next round will be much more fun than the last!"

A timer for 5 minutes appeared on the screen. Gwen finally managed to tear her eyes away from the screen, walked to the closest wall and slammed both fists against it. The wall cracked and splintered and she pressed her face against the old wallpaper. Her breaths came out in ragged gasps, veins ran up the length of her neck up to her jaw and her bared teeth were sharp and monstrous.

She knew she should've gone with him. Peter told her he'd be alright and now he was trapped in some madman's insane game while thousands - millions - of people could only watch; herself included. She smashed her hands against the wall again and it finally crumbled. All this power, all the gifts Webster gave her, and she couldn't do  _anything_  to help.

She had to get out there. Maybe...Maybe she could swing around, find them somehow-

"...wen. Gwen!" Cindy suddenly grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. Gwen almost smacked her away, "We need you to stay here and keep calm-"

"How the hell can you say that?!" Gwen screamed. Most of everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to face them, "Peter's...Peter's being tortured by that bastard right now! And we're all just here, just...just..." The veins covered almost all of her face now. Cindy didn't take so much as a step back, "Why the hell are you so fucking calm, huh?! Do you even care-"

The sudden slap to her right cheek surprised her more than she wanted to admit. Gwen looked back to the older Spider and almost flinched at the murderous glare she was sporting, "Of course I care! Why do you think I came here?! Or why everyone else did?! All of us are scrambling because we want to save them! Wasp is going insane trying to find Moon Knight and Danny's friends are trying to look for him too!"

"I..."

"That's why we need you  _here_. Norah's doing her best, but even then there are too many places. You, me, MJ and Lana are the fastest and we need to work together instead of running around blind. Once we get all the locations we can split it off between the four of us so we don't waste any time. Okay?" The brunette's glare left her no room to question. It was calming, in a way.

"Okay..." Gwen chewed on her lower lip so hard it was a miracle she didn't draw blood. The veins retracted and her features returned to normal, "I just...I hate this. Every second that we haven't found him - them - it feels like they..."

"I know..." Cindy released a soft breath and looked down the bloodstained knuckles of her right hand. Apparently one of her coworkers started placing bets on the 'game' and she'd punched him hard enough to break his nose, "I'm worried too, we all are, but panicking won't help us save them. We just...We just have to trust Peter and the rest to hold on till we can find them. Okay?"

"...Okay." Gwen nodded.

"Good. Now, I gotta go get some ice cause I think your face broke my hand." She shook her hand and trudged back to the dining room.

There was a buzz from the screen and Gwen's head snapped towards it again. The countdown ended. It was starting again.

* * *

They were dragged to an open stage. Peter and the rest stopped only when they were close to the edge and the the chains jerked down, forcing them all to kneel. His bloodstained wrist throbbed and dripped with blood. A price of blood...the guy was more off his rocker than he thought.

The stage was brightly lit while the the area around them was covered in shadow. It didn't keep him from seeing the figures above them standing behind the reinforced glass, "Men and women in suits and dresses..." Peter muttered. Only Rand and Matt, who took up his left and right respectively, heard him, "You can see them too, can't you?" he whispered to Matt.

"Yes, though 'seeing' isn't the right term."

"I can see a bit. I recognize some of them." One of the ones out back raised a red board of some kind. Bidding... "I've had meetings with some of them. To think they're doing something like this..."

"Don't tell me you're surprised. Everyone has a dark side." Matt chuckled, "Either way we should prepare ourselves. I assume we'll be hunted soon."

They were bidding on them. Deciding which of them got the 'honor' to hunt down another human being like an animal. Peter wanted to be surprised, but it wasn't the first time he'd been on this end. Depravity was a worldwide phenomenon, as he'd been shown time and again during his year-long trip.

As was begging when the tables were turned.

The bidding war lasted for two more minutes before the stage suddenly lowered to the ground and the lights dimmed, blanketing them all in total darkness, "Sorry for the wait!" Arcade's grating voice screeched all around them, "But we're going to have a little hunting game this time. A few of my select audience wanted to get involved, you see, and were even willing to bid to get that chance."

Echo made a handsignal and nudged her head before parts of the floor split open to spit out makeshift walls and shrubs, "Want to make arena as viable as possible, ya know?" Arcade chimed in, "Here's the rules: there aren't any. It's kill or be killed out there, folks! Oh, but I should probably tell ya the attacking team has nightvision and, you know,  _guns_. Thought it'd be fair since they're not Superheroes like the rest of you are."

"Oh, and none of that non-lethal stuff! It's kill or be killed, folks! Price of admission!"

The door at the other end of the large, circular room opened and his spider-sense flared, "Take cover." It wasn't a yell, it was barely more than a whisper, but they all heard it just fine. Peter jumped to the rightmost wall and pressed himself against it just as a barrage of gunfire covered where they were all just standing, "Automatics..." He looked to the left and found only Echo next to him. The other three were elsewhere.

Echo crouched and gestured to the other wall, "Can you see?" She nodded. Must've been another one of the gifts the Hand gave her. Peter peeked his head out slightly and counted them all, "Count 15 of em. We need to thin them out before Moon Knight and Iron Fist can help us." Matt would be fine. The bastard was good in the dark and he could help Iron Fist and Moon Knight.

Two of the 'hunters' rounded the corner on both sides. Peter grabbed one with the rifle to the left while Echo took the one brandishing a shotgun on the right. Peter smashed her against the wall, webbed her face completely and yanked the gun from her grip as she struggled. He pulled the trigger when the muzzle was against her gut only to be met with an annoyingly loud click and a beep from, the collar.

"Ah, ah, ah! That isn't for you!" Arcade jeered, "Gotta keep it fair, you know?"

Peter clicked his tongue. He tossed the woman to the ground then stomped on her neck, causing it to snap with a dull crack. Echo broke both of her assailants arms, grabbed the knife from the holster then stabbed him multiple times in the chest. Apparently the blades were fair game, "Come on." Peter nudged his head. Echo's masked, bloodstained face turned towards Peter. Then she stabbed the 'hunter' in the throat one more time for good measure and let him crumple to the ground.

"Ooh, things are heating up!" Arcade cheered loudly.

5 more converging on their position. Peter picked up a knife and disappeared into smoke while Echo held her ground. Peter rushed towards the two to the right and stabbed one in the throat while he webbed the other to the ground, "It's Spider-Man! Turn on heat vision!" If he were more morbid he would've laughed at that. Magic didn't exactly follow the rules.

They turned on their heat vision and scanned the area. Peter rushed to the one a bit farther from the rest, grabbed him by the next and tossed him behind one of the walls. The man scrambled to pick up his gun and Peter hit him with a running kick that broke his goggles and made his teeth fly out.

Just two more left.

The two remaining hunters, a man and a woman, shot at where their buddy was. Peter was long gone by the time they lit the place up and left their body fulla daylight,  _'No love lost, I guess.'_ Echo came up behind the two and stabbed the woman in the back of the neck. The man turned just in time for Echo to yank the gun from his grip and toss it far away.

Every strike was methodical. One to the neck, another to the gut and and a few more in what he could only assume were pressure points. The man was left a twitching, heaving mess on the floor who could only look up at Echo as she grabbed the embedded knife from his friend's neck then stabbed him in the side of his neck. His twitched continued for a few more seconds before he finally lay still.

"And our audience is going wild!" Peter grit his teeth. Again he was reminded that everyone could see this. Ben, May, Cindy, Mary, Lana, Gwen...he didn't feel guilty killing these bastards. Just a bunch of rich psychopaths who thought they could kill people because they paid for the 'right'. Like someone's life could be so easily priced like that.

Still, he didn't like the idea that someone was hovering over his shoulder taking notes.

A sudden explosion at the rightmost part drew both their attention. Echo went first, grabbing the knife and charging towards the source like a woman possessed. Peter followed after her and found a gaggle of bodies, many of them missing quite a few parts, scattered around the area. Iron Fist and Moon Knight were panting with their hands on their knees and cricking their necks, respectively, while Matt wasn't too far away. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen had his knee to someone's back and forced them to the ground, the wire from his billy club wrapped around her neck.

He could see Matt's grin from here.

The 'hunter' struggled briefly before eventually her movements weakened and Matt snapped her neck, "Well, that was a decent workout." He stood and re-fixed the club, "One more would-be predator left. Who wants to do the honors?"

Said 'hunter' was a man who was decade older than Peter and covered in blood, most of it not his. His gun was gone and he banged against the door to the elevator, "Hey, lemme outta here!" he shouted, loud and desperate. Echo walked towards him, "Arcade, get me the fuck out of here! I give! I gi-"

His words died in his throat when she stabbed the knife to his back and pressed him hard against reinforced glass. He tried to open his mouth and blood dribbled out, turning his pleas into weak, pathetic dribbling. Echo stabbed him two more times before pulling the knife out and and letting him slide down to the floor, leaving a trail of blood on the glass in his wake.

The entire arena lit up. Peter narrowed his eyes at the sudden brightness and glared at Arcade's hologram as he gave them that gremlin like smile, "That was quick! Then again, I'm not surprised. This bunch  _did_ ignore my warnings that going after Superheroes would be harder than the usual celeb or gameshow host. Guess they got confident." He shrugged without a care, "Oh well, you win some you lose some."

"Need I remind you we're on a schedule?" Lockley sighed dramatically, "Remember: you're not important, so let's not pretend this whole thing isn't more than a distraction."

Arcade's mouth twitched again and the hologram sat down, "So impatient! Well, I can't be  _too_  mad. You  _are_  more fun than the last bunch." The last group people he murdered, he meant. The guy might've just been a gremlin to them but how many people did he put on these death mazes for the sake of his twisted fun? "Maybe this next bunch will be more of a challenge!"

The floor suddenly gave way beneath them. The fall was brief and all of them managed to keep their balance as they landed, "Getting tired of this..." Peter looked around the area quickly. Unlike the last arena this one was brightly colored with multiple patterns on the walls and grinning Arcade faces all around them. Aside from that there were multiple glass cells with flamethrowers, gun turrets everywhere and even a few spinning blades.

It looked like someone's deranged fever dream come true.

"Since the rich folks didn't give much of a challenge, why not a few more people your speed?"

Peter's spider-sense flared dully and he lowered himself into a crouching position as the green bastard from before (Bruiser, he called himself), the Nazi made of bees (still missing an 'arm' and a chunk of his 'face') and a few others came from the other end of the seizure-inducing chamber, "These guys were just as eager to get their hands on you! Guess you five made some enemies, hm?"

"This is crazy..." Rand muttered, already lowering himself into a combat stance.

"That's life." Matt chuckled, "Come on, let's have some fun."

* * *

Gwen left crossed out another building and swung her way over to the next. Even with Norah doing her best to narrow the signal and the help from Cindy's police friends and Wasp the location list still came up into the dozens. So, like Cindy had said they all split off into different parts of the city so they could avoid wasting time. Gwen and Cindy were the fastest, being used to webswinging and all, so they took the largest areas.

She'd been through easily half a dozen places with no luck. It would've been one thing if they could just kick the door down and check, but Wasp had them scan the place with a program she sent them to make sure that there weren't any elaborate torture dungeons in the basement.

"And the crowd goes wild!" Gwen grit her teeth and almost missed the next swing, one hand holding onto a webline while the other held her phone up to her face. Cindy had suggested they hold off on watching the 'games' to avoid being distracted, but Gwen couldn't stomach the idea of it. If something happened to Peter and the rest of them while she wasn't looking...she knew it wouldn't have made a difference whether she was watching or not.

And yet she kept watching, half out of worry and half on the hope that maybe she'd see a clue of some kind.

**'Gwen, we're coming up on the building,'**  Webster said. Gwen didn't reply,  **'Gwen...'**  She stopped at a nearby horizontal flagpole and winced when Peter got slammed against the wall by the guy in green. Peter's punches to his face were completely ignored and the son of a bitch kept laughing till Murderdock tossed a brick to the back of his knee and a sickening crack echoed.

The guy crumpled to the ground screaming. Peter webbed both his hands to the ground then webbed his mouth and nose to suffocate him. Gwen could only look on in morbid curiosity as his struggles weakened and he eventually went limp, "Looks like Bruiser's down and out!" Arcade cheered loudly. The sick fuck was making them kill. It made Gwen sick to her stomach.

**'Gwen!'**  Webster's scream nearly made her drop the phone,  **'I know you're worried, but we need to keep going!'**

"R-Right..." She pocketed the phone and swung to the next building. Please God let Peter hold on till she got there.

* * *

Peter watched as the Nazi Bee man banged against the walls of the reinforced glass. It was a small incinerator room; part of Arcade's twisted sense of fairness. He wanted both sides to be able to win so he left ways for both sides to kill the other.

He didn't say anything and just continued to stare as the flames finally activated and engulfed the entirety of the small, see-through cube. Swarm was the most difficult to take down by far, mostly cause of those bees of his. Eventually they'd managed to lure him inside, though they (mostly he and Rand) took more than a few stings in the process. Even now the side of his face and neck throbbed and Rand's right arm had swollen .

The bastard's screaming was grotesque; a mix of human and the sounds of a bee's rattling death throes. Peter finally looked away and looked to the rest of them. Moon Knight looked the worst off with his white outfit stained with blood and his left wrist covered in deep bite marks courtesy of the oversized dog man mangling him. Matt was leaning slightly on his right leg - took a hit from that big Bruiser palooka - while the lower half of Echo's mask had been torn off, exposing the deep scratches that went from her right cheek to her chin.

All while they were being recorded. It was just like Jack again.

"Impressive! All villains dead and not a single fatality on your side! Color me impressed!" Peter clenched his fists. The blood stuck uncomfortably to his fingers, "The audience is enjoying it too! Just look at these posts on social media! You guys are darlings right now!"

"He's rather grating, isn't he?" Matt put a hand on his neck and cracked his neck, "Still, this change of events is rather refreshing. Been a while since we've had a good fight with anyone but the Hand's pawns, hasn't it?"

"You guys are way too calm about this," Rand said. Peter felt sorry for him. He was the chosen warrior of Kun Lung or something, but this brand of insanity was still new to him. He felt like he was dragging a kid to this...ignoring the fact that the guy was 28.

"Next game!" Arcade screeched. A door to the side of the arena opened, "Don't worry, there won't be any killing this time! I find that mixing things up keeps both the contestants and the audience on their toes."

They all looked at each other before slowly trudging to the next room. So far they hadn't found any way to escape, so for now the only choice they had was to play along. He didn't much fancy getting his head blown up.

As soon as they were inside the door behind them closed with a slam. Peter only looked back briefly before taking in their new surroundings. If the last room was seizure inducing this one was designed to give someone vertigo. The entire place was topsy turvy: tables on the ceiling, phones on the walls, lights and ceiling fans on the floor...if he wasn't so used to insane heights he might've felt sick.

The room suddenly shook. They all braced themselves and hung on to whatever they could as the room suddenly rushed upwards with enough force to make a few of them almost fall to the ground, "It's an elevator..." Meaning they were in a high building of some kind, "Daredevil, can you see anything?"

"Nothing that will help us, if that's what you mean."

The elevator stopped. Arcade appeared in front of them again, "Any of you ever play escape room? Scavenger hunts? No? Doesn't matter," he waved a hand, "This one's more focused on finesse. Look over there."

He pointed behind them. Peter looked and found a metal door on a raised platform with five keyholes dotted across its surface. "Five keyholes, five keys, five of you; no double dipping. Good thing none of you died yet, huh?" He laughed, "Look for the keys around the room then find a way out. Simple, right? Should be easy with all five of you here. Just...make sure to do it fast."

That God awful buzzing sound came back with his spider-sense coming right after, "Move!" They all managed to jump away just in time to avoid the collapsing floor. A decent sized chunk of paneling fell down and exposed the deep, dark hole below them with water at the bottom. At the height of the fall it would've been fatal to all of them. Seconds passed before the metal square finally hit the water with dull sound.

"Damn it..." Peter looked around the area and spotted at two of the keys. One was attached to a painting and another was hanging precariously of a horizontal coat rack, "Moon Knight, Iron Fist, you go for those two." He pointed them both out then turned to Moon Knight, "Your wrist is damaged, so you go for the lower one. Daredevil, Echo and I will look for the rest."

"I've spotted the others. I suggest you go for the highest one." Matt pointed straight up to the high ceiling where a key hung by a string, "You  _are_  the Spider amongst us, after all." He grinned. Peter almost punched him in the face.

Another buzzing noise and another large chunk of the floor fell, "Tick tock, tick tock!" Arcade giggled.

Peter grit his teeth and began climbing the wall, using whatever he could as handholds. The rest followed his lead with varying speeds,  _'Focus, Parker.'_ He shook his head and continued climbing. Right then and there he sorely wished he could cling to walls like Gwen, Cindy and Mary. Would've made this entire thing a walk in the park. Hopefully the rest of them didn't fall. He didn't need them on his conscience.

He was halfway up to his key when Arcade chimed in again, "Looks like someone's already got theirs." He looked back down and saw Moon Knight sitting against the wall, bloody wrist pressed against his chest while his other hand held onto the silver key in a vice grip, "Will the rest of them make it? Place your bets now."

Peter climbed faster and paused when he reached the top. Key was at the center of the room and his arms weren't long enough to reach, "Ooh, looks like Spider-Man's in a conundrum. Whatever shall he do?" God, if this trap didn't kill him then that bastard's voice would, "Oh, and it looks like he's lagging behind! We already have another winner!"

Echo landed on the platform with some measure of grace with Matt close behind. Rand was still trying to find his way back, "Come on..." Taking a deep breath, he kicked against the wall and jumped for the key. He managed to grab it with one hand and ejected a net of webbing once he was close to the wall. He gripped the end of it tightly and let out soft breath.

"And he's got it! He might not be able to webswing, but he still has it! Good for you!" If he wasn't so busy he might've flipped the gremlin off. Instead he made sure to keep a tight grip on the key as he made his way to the platform. He didn't want to risk putting it on his pocket and having the damn thing fall into the abyss.

Peter made the final jumped and landed at the edge of the platform, "Nice job." Matt gave him a thumbs up. He ignored him and put the key into the fourth hole, "Now we just have to wait for Iron Fist."

Despite having the second lowest key Rand was still hanging on the table and trying to maneuver close to the platform. It was clear he wasn't use to climbing, "Come on..." Rand panted and Peter didn't like the way his hands shook, "What's wrong with him?"

"The drugs..." Spector muttered, "Sowande must have told Arcade to keep him drugged. Without it the power of the Iron Fist can't be contained. The fighting would have only weakened him."

"Shit." He turned back to Rand, "Iron Fist, hurry! We don't have much more time!"

Rand nodded and managed a couple more shimmies before, with a loud cheer from Arcade, he fell. Rand landed right side first on one of the two remaining platforms, "Iron Fist!" He stopped at the edge of the platform and looked at the distance. Jump was doable, but there was no way he'd get them both up considering how much higher the platform they were standing on was, "Get up! "

Rand shook his head with a soft groan and stood up shakily. He looked like he was seconds from passing out, "This isn't ideal," Matt muttered next to him. The buzzing sound came again and the platform behind Rand fell, "I'd suggest-"

He was cut off when Echo suddenly rushed past them and jumped to the platform. She barely managed to land on the edge, "Echo!" She grabbed the key from Rand's hand and tossed it towards them. Matt caught it with one hand and inserted it to the remaining keyhole, "Damn it, you both need to get out of there now!"

"I don't see how they could." Matt said. Peter ignored him.

Echo dragged Rand to the edge and looked at the space between the platforms. She made another gesture before she suddenly picked up Rand with both hands and threw him. Peter leaned as far as he could over the edge of the platform ejected a line of webbing that barely managed to catch the blonde's wrist. Peter was stuck leaning over the edge while Rand hung limply by his wrist.

The buzzing came back.

"Echo, jump!" She looked around briefly before looking back to him and shaking her head, "Damn it, now isn't the time to argue! Jump-"

The platform fell. Peter couldn't do anything but watch as Echo fell to the water below and crashed through it out of sight. She didn't come back up, "...Damn it." He pulled up Rand with Matt's help and sat on the platform with his back against the wall and his eyes closed. His heart pounded against his ears and he smashed the back of his fist on the surface of the metal door.

Of course that bastard chose just then to chime in.

"Oooh, our first fatality! And a dramatic one too! A sacrifice for her teammate!" Peter's hands shook and he pulled himself up, "And it looks like Spider-Man's taking it hard. Mayhaps they were more than friends? If so shame on you, Spider-Man! I didn't take you for the cheating type."

Peter didn't say a word and just walked through the door with the rest following behind him. Rand hadn't said a word, but it was clear by the way his mouth hung agape and he kept looking back that he knew what happened. Spector focused on looking around for weaknesses while Matt...

Matt just smiled and hummed like he was having the time of his life.

Eventually they came to five doors at the end of the hallway, "This is where the teamwork segment ends, gents. One door for each of you, each leading to a specialized trial. Didn't know which of you would make it to this point so I decided to play it safe and make one for each of you. You'll see your pictures on the wall. Just make sure that you pick your door cause anyone who tries to swap out gets an explosive surprise! Get it?"

Peter went to the door with a 'cutesy' drawing of his mask and put his hand on the knob, "...None of you better die." He didn't give them a chance to respond before he opened it and walked the length of the brightly lit hall. The multi-colored lights overhead flickered on and off and his collar started beeping the closer he got to the edge. Not explosive, or if it was his spider-sense didn't think it was important to warn him.

When he emerged from the hall he was met with a winding path that lacked anything in the way of walls. Beneath the winding path was a pit full of spikes like on one of those violent horror movies Cin forced him to watch. His eyes traced across the length of the path and he froze when he saw what - who - was on the end.

A little girl, couldn't have looked older than 5, if that, with both her hands and legs bound by cuffs. Her mouth was covered tightly with a gag and she did her best cry through it, tears streaming down her cheeks. Around her was a collar that looked identical to his only far smaller in size.

"Quite a scene, isn't it?" Arcade's hologram popped up in front of him with a taunting grin, "Decided to go for something classic since you guys seemed bored with fighting and puzzles. The hero saves the innocent civilian - in this case our darling volunteer Maddie. An old employee was put into my debt and he decided that the little peach would be just the perfect thing to pay it back. Poor thing has no idea what's happening."

"...Just tell me the rules."

"Oh, such a hero response!" He clapped his hands eagerly, "It's pretty simple: you go through the obstacle course, dodging the usual assortment of lasers and buzzsaws and the like, and make it to the finish line in under 60 seconds. That would be the finish line." He pointed to the white line painted in front of the girl, "You win the race and I let her go. Simple as that. Are we agreed?"

"Don't have a choice." He looked at the winding path and took note of the slight bumps and almost imperceptible holes. He couldn't afford to get caught here, "Let's start."

"Ready, set, go!"

Large, holographic numbers covered the entirety of the area around him and a song about needing a hero started blaring. Peter ran ahead and it didn't take long before the obstacles started, "Oops, watch out!" Peter jumped between the lasers and flipped on his hand to avoid the saw that suddenly jutted out of the ground, "That was a close one!" Peter jumped over the next saw and then his spider-sense suddenly blared.

An overwhelming electric shock surged through him and he barely managed to avoid fully running into the horizontal saw. The blades sliced through his right side and he fell on one knee. Arcade's hologram appeared in front of him, "Oh, did I forget to mention the shocks? Yeah, you'll get periodic shocks here and there to keep things interesting. Oh, and you have 40 seconds."

"Get up..."

He forced himself to stand and continued running. Blood dripped down his side and he forced himself to ignore the pain, "He's getting closer. Will the hero make it in time to save the damsel in distress?"

Another shock. Peter stumbled and burned his left arm and almost fell over the edge. He shot a net of webbing behind him and used it to pull himself back,  _'19 seconds...'_  He was close. Again forcing himself to ignore the pain, he forced one leg over the other and kept dodging the projectiles as best he could.

"Fire!" Two nozzles spewing flames jutted out of the floor. Peter jumped through it and left the burning jacket behind, "Bold maneuver! But is it enough?"

The final seconds counted down. He'd almost made it to the end when the collar surged with electricity again and his body finally collapsed. He saw the white line and reached a hand out desperately to teach it.

The timer hit zero and the ungodly blaring came again. Peter shut his eyes briefly and when he opened up again his heart sank when he saw that his fingers was a scant inch from the painted line, "No..." He forced himself up. Had to get her out, had to...

"Ooh, and Spider-Man faces his first loss!" The bastard sounded like Christmas came early. He had the biggest grin on his face and he clapped his hands excitedly, "And you know what that means!"

"Don't-"

The girl didn't even get a chance to let out a final cry before her collar beeped loudly and her head...disappeared. Blood covered Peter and her body crumpled to the ground, a pool of crimson seeping down towards him. Peter only managed two more steps before he fell on his knees, head facing down. Arcade was taunting him and showed him videos of the other three struggling against their own games, but he didn't pay it any mind.

He failed. The girl was dead because of it.

His bloody reflection stared back at him. He saw his mask, torn and tattered and covered in blood, but something else on top of: the mask of Anansi. He heard the Spider-God's voice in his ear. Urging him to hunt. To kill.

"Hellooo, earth to Spider-Man!" Arcade's hologram appeared in front of him, "Up, up, up! We still have more games to play!" He clapped his hands mockingly, "Come on, we need to give the audience a show! You'll like this next one: we'll be face to face!"

"...I'm going to kill you." The declaration was nothing more than a soft whisper.

"Are you forgetting who's holding all the cards here?" He sighed like he was dealing with a rowdy child, "Cause you know this isn't- wait."

His collar stopped beeping. Arcade's hologram disappeared and a screen focused on the front entrance. Gwen kicked down the door to the building, her eyes sharp and her fingers sharpened into claws, "Well, well, well. Looks like girlfriend's come for the res-" She ignored the taunting and kicked down another reinforced door before she grabbed the closest guards and smashed them against the walls.

There was no finesse, no jokes. She tore through everything in her way. The screen turned off and the hologram came back, "Well, looks like Spider-Woman's not so fond of playing by the rules. Sorry, but we'll have to cut this game short. You understand, don't you?"

He pressed the diamond on the tip of his cane. Seconds of silence passed and then his smile faded, "What the?" He tapped it again and again. Still nothing, "Why isn't your head popping like a cherry?!"

Again he cycled through the screens till pausing at one video in particular: Echo in some kind of control room destroying as much machinery as she could, "What the- how are you still alive?! I literally saw you go splat and your heart rate was  _zero!_ " She paid him him no mind and smashed another machine, "Rrrgh, cheaters and intruders! This game is official over!"

He was going to escape. Peter grabbed the collar as he stood and pulled till it split apart with a dull crack. The screens showed more and more video feeds: Lana, Mary and Cindy busting in through different entrances, the rest of his team escaping their games...he paid it no mind. His gaze was focused solely ahead to the elevator. He said they would meet face to face.

The doors opened and four men in body armor carrying rifles stomped out. Peter disappeared into smoke and charged towards them, "Open fi-" He grabbed the goon's head and twisted it 180 degrees. The worthless sack dropped to the ground and he focused on the next one, tackling him against the wall and punching him in the throat hard enough to break his neck.

To the other two it must've looked surreal, like a ghost coming to reap bloody vengeance. Peter grabbed the knife from the second goon's sheath and ducked the barrage of gunfire before stabbing the third rent-a-clown multiple times in a frenzy. Blood splattered all around them and the last one barely managed to take a step back before Peter drove the knife up his jaw.

Peter grabbed the rifle with one hand and held the knife with the other. He pressed the button and the elevator rushed to the top. He kept staring ahead passively even as another hologram appeared in front of him, "You're still coming up? I already packed up and the guests are leaving! You know the phrase know when to fold em?" Peter didn't say anything, "You know the silent treatment isn't cool or anything. It's just-"

Spider-sense.

Peter disappeared and pressed himself against the rightmost wall. A barrage of gunfire came at where he stood and Peter winced as a ricochet grazed his still-injured leg, "He's still there, morons! Keep firi-" He charged out and stabbed one in the threat and shot three others through the head. The remaining two raised their guns and Peter flipped sideways to avoid the gunfire. He threw the knife through the right one's visor then tackled the other one to the ground and kept smashing his head down till he stopped moving.

He picked up the knife and gun again and kept running down the hall. Arcade continued to taunt him, but with every step he took he heard the bastard's voice get less and less calm.

Peter kicked down the double doors and almost paused when he saw what was on the other end of it. Men and women in six figure clothes frozen in shock and fear, tables filled with exotic feasts...and the screens showing everything that happened. A fancy party for the decadent and depraved. They were fighting for their lives and these bastards paid for the privilege to watch death from behind the safety of a screen.

And at the center of it all was him. Arcade, in his immaculate white suit without a hair out of place. His smile wasn't as confident as he might've hoped, "So, funny story. Apparently one of your friends grounded my chopper and-"

Peter shot him through the gut. Everyone around him immediately started screaming and trying to run past him to the one exit. Peter webbed the entire doorway shut behind him and anyone dumb enough to try and grab the dark silk was suddenly paralyzed. No one was leaving.

Peter walked forward and fired another bullet through Arcade's left hand as he tried to raise it, "Ah, ah! Damn, that hurts!" He curled in on himself weakly, "Okay, okay! I see that you might just be a tad put off-" One through his left knee, "Ah, fuck! Fuck! The games aren't for everyone, I get it! So let's deal!"

The next one went between his legs.

Everyone around them watched as Arcade pathetically crawled his way to the wall and tried to pull himself up. He only managed to get up halfway before he fell back down, back pressed against the marble, "Y-You know we're still recording..." His voice was weak, desperate. Trying to find a way out, "Everyone's watching, so..." He raised both hands up weakly, "I give up. Take me in-"

The last one went through his right eye.

There was a moment of silence before all hell broke loose again. The sadistic cowards tried to escape again, and again they had no luck. He looked up at the screen right above him and was met with his own image - bloody, wounded and barely conscious - standing in front of the sack of shit's perforated corpse. Everyone saw it.

He turned the gun on the crowd. They all screamed, some of them even getting on their knees to beg for their pathetic lives. Many of them held onto each other protectively. They were all there. They partied it up like nothing was wrong and just watched as they fought for their lives.

Just watched as that little girl died scared and confused while they treated it all like a game.

He almost squeezed the trigger. Just let the bullets cut through them; it was what they deserved. Instead his spider-sense blared by just the smallest amount before he saw grenades roll into the largest cluster of people.

Peter raised his arm and covered his face as the explosions rang out. The smell and taste of iron permeated the air and when he looked back he found nothing left but mangled bodies and a few still clinging to life. He was almost tempted to kill them, out of mercy if nothing else, but ultimately just let the rifle fall. Whatever they got they deserved, and if they survived it wouldn't have been pleasant.

Now, who threw those grenades?

A nearby screen blurred with static briefly before an all too familiar face popped up on the screen, "Bullseye..."

"Hey, kid! That was some party, huh?" Judging by the way he was holding his hand out he must've been using a phone to project himself, "You haven't lost your touch, huh? Still as vicious as I remember."

"...What are you doing here?"

"Who, me? Oh I just wanted to check in, see how ya were doing. We left off on kinda awkward note last time." He looked around the mangled corpses and whistled in appreciation, "Sorry for stealing all the fun. Since Arcade boy there failed the bossman wanted to make sure that none of these guys talked about him. Kill all witnesses, you know how it is. We were totally on the same page this time, though!"

"That's not the only reason you came here."

"No, but it was the most fun." He leaned back and brandished a knife in his right hand. The Hellfire knife, "Remembered this thing and thought I'd help myself. Don't worry, I didn't take anything else. Scout's honor."

"...Get down here. Let's finish this."

"As in right now? Yeah...no. Right now a stiff breeze'd knock ya over. And where's the fun in that? I wanna work for it! What's the point if you're not having fun, right?" He grinned, "Don't ya worry, kid, I'll see you eventually! Gotta prepare where we'll have our date first...and take care of my replacement." Matt. Bullseye must've been the one who nearly killed him over a week ago.

The screen shut down. Peter was left alone in the bloodstained room, the only being the occasional gurgles and mumbled pleas from those still clinging to life, He cut through the web covering the entrance and walked back to the elevator. Bodies littered the halls, but he paid them no mind. He didn't feel guilty, not after what they did.

Even if Gwen saw.

The elevator's descent was painfully slow. The doors opened and he was only slightly surprised to find Gwen at the other end. Her mask's features softened when she saw him and she reached out a hesitant hand. She stopped before actually touching him, "Peter." Her voice was so soft, so full of pity. Peter just shook his head. He couldn't talk, not now...

He practically collapsed in her arms and drifted away into a dream-filled sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, like I said this chapter wasn't my best work. The next chapter will be far lighter and focus more on Gwen as she tries to fix Peter's bounty issue and deals with more pregnancy symptoms.
> 
> The original 'Noir goes apeshit' moment was also meant to be somewhat different. Since Spider Trigger looked like it was going to win he was supposed to have used the ethereal spider arms to kill the guards. Wallcrawling as wall would've had him rip someone's face off. On the advice of a reader I decided to add the the winning vote more slowly so it feels earned rather than being another power-up.
> 
> Gwen was also supposed to get more POV but I wanted to focus more on the Arcade segment. She'll get focus next chapter...along with the public reacting to the Murderworld games and Noir's killing spree at the end. Off. Also Gwen being super overprotective for a while given what just happened. 
> 
> Anyway, that's it. Hope you stomached through this chapter and look forward to the next.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Should I do more bonding segments between the five protagonists or should I leave them to their own supporting cast? Some people seemed to like the sleepover truth or dare segment from before.
> 
> 2\. I originally planned for different members of the Defenders to fight different Fingers ie Echo got focus on fighting Murakami, Moon Knight against Sowande etc etc. Should I scrap this and just have Noir be the lead to fighting all the Hand bosses with the rest being support/non-POV because he's the main character?


	20. House Arrest and Awkward Photos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm reading up on my thesis and trying to take meds/tea for my anxiety, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to update much. Depends on whether my anxiety kicks in and makes me think my parents will die horribly within the next couple of weeks or I go back to feeling useless because I feel like I don't do enough at work.
> 
> On a brighter note, this is a more talky and less action-y chapter to balance out the last one. This also made it far easier to write - over 5000 was made by me just today. Hope you guys like it :)
> 
> Current votes for love interest are 8 for Matt, 6 for Felicia, 1 for other and 0 for Kate and Frog-Man. I'll have MJ interact with the latter two later so Kate (not Eugene) might be seen as more viable.
> 
> Also, a lot of people seem to want both Spider-Arms and the traversal abilities now. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the original awakening scene since now people are thinking of what-ifs...

**Ep101: Holy shit, that was...intense...**

**AllNuturalDudeBro: INTENSE?! Dude, a kid fucking died! WTF?! It's more than intense!**

**MousybutSassy: Yeah, this is fucked! What the hell?!**

**AllNuturalDudeBro: Dude, it was fucked from the beginning! Just cause Spider-Man and the rest of them were superheroes doesn't mean it's any better they got almost killed!**

**Ep101: I thought they'd just bust out and stop this guy. I mean, the Defenders killed a fucking demon in Times Square!**

**Applesandoranges: It's Spider-Man's fault. He fucked up and that girl died.**

**MousybutSassy: Dude, fuck off. You saw the stream, he tried everything he could. That POS Arcade screwed him at the end cause he wanted to murder that girl.**

**ITalkToDragonS: Yeah, he fucking executed that guy.**

**AllNaturalDudeBro: Dude, FUCK that guy. Anyone who kills kids deserves a bullet to the head. Wish Spider-Man did more.**

**AlterEgo: Hear, hear.**

**MousyButSassy: That Bullseye guy killed the rest of those rich assholes. He just dropped out of the grid a year ago. Thought he died since he wasn't with the rest of the Defenders in Times Square.**

**ITalkToDragons: Yeah, but the way he and Spider-Man were talking...think they had a falling out?**

**AlterEgo: Yeah, he didn't sound happy to see him. Well, at least he killed those rich pricks. All of should burn in hell.**

**ITalkToDragonS: Ten bucks says Jameson'll get on his case too.**

* * *

Peter was no stranger to bad dreams. Ever since he woke up in this madhouse he'd had nightmares. Dreams of turning into a giant Lizard, dreams of Gwen beating him to death and then dying in her arms. It was one reason he tended not to sleep, aside from the fact that he didn't much need to. For those first few weeks he woke up with cold sweats hearing those damn justifications over and over again.

_I wanted to be special, just like you._ As if that justified everything.

Eventually the nightmares did stop after Moon told him the truth of what he was. Then the dreams were replaced by that looming, existential dread. Not knowing who he really was, finding out about his 'brother', Matt and Jack setting their sights on him. It was a miracle he hadn't blown his brains out, though he would've been lying if he said he wasn't tempted at times. A bullet to the head was at least quick.

Now his dreams were about dead little girls.

Peter woke up in a cold sweat, his breaths ragged and his mouth parted slightly. He didn't scream, didn't struggle or have tears in his eyes. Months of nightmares made him used to keeping himself quiet. His old apartment didn't have thin walls and everyone minded their own business, but it was still good manners not to draw attention to yourself. The couple selling guns were polite and made sure there was no gunfire inside the walls, which was nice of them.

"...Damn it." He brought his right hand through his sweat-soaked hair and face and looked up at the ceiling above. Judging by the small peeks of sunshine coming from the windows it was just a few minutes past sunrise. Later than his usual wake-up call; usually he was up and about before the sun was peeking over the horizon.

He tried to stand only for him to notice the vice grip on his left arm. Looking down he found Gwen sleeping close by, both arms wrapped tightly around the aforementioned limb. And drooling into his shirt. Sighing, Peter carefully untangled his arm from hers and swung his leg over the edge of the building. For a second he almost forgot where he was.

It'd been four days since they survived Arcade's twisted 'game'. Four days since Gwen had doubled down on being mama spider and insisting that he stay over at her house so she could keep an eye on him. He didn't mind at first, but it became pretty obvious soon after that keeping an eye on him was meant literally. If it wasn't her it was someone else keeping guard over him to make sure he didn't run around like a headless chicken.

It wasn't that he didn't understand. It was one thing to know the people you loved were in danger, it was another thing entirely to watch from a screen as they had to fight for their lives. Gwen had to live with that for years even before she had powers. She told him about the nights when she stayed up after her dad didn't come home for dinner or how sick she felt when she heard that her dad once got taken to the hospital. It made her protective of those she cared about even before she hit double digits.

Still, that didn't mean he didn't feel at least a little frustrated at being grounded.

He'd barely made to stand before Gwen wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled into his neck, "'s too early. Go back to sleep..." she mumbled, breath hot against his skin.

He was tempted to, but he knew if he closed his eyes he'd see that little girl again. See her wide, tears eyes full of fear, hear her voice as she tried to cry and scream through the gag before that bastard...

"Not sleepy," he said softly.

Gwen groaned sleepily and loosened her grip on him, "Fine, let's go." He didn't bother telling her she could sleep in. It was part of the arrangement now - someone always had to be there to keep an eye on him. He'd called her paranoid, but he did try to sneak out the second morning in. Probably would've gone for a another go if she hadn't threatened to web him down and plop him in front of the tv with Webflicks on loop.

Least he could still go to the bathroom on his own.

Gwen yawned and let the little blob jump to her. It (she? the whole pregnancy thing made him confused) also kept an eye on him. Probably helped that, like him, it didn't much need sleep, "Come on, let's go get breakfast. I gotta go soon." Right. Early morning classes then she had to go out searching for whoever put that bounty on his head. Would've been easier if she let him go out and find the source on his own, but she didn't wanna risk another Arcade grabbing him.

The place was still empty by the time they got down. Captain Stacy and Jones (she hadn't taken the name Stacy) were fast asleep while Ben, May and Helen - who'd chosen to extend their stays out of worry - were in their motels. They'd all come back in a couple of hours. The guilt trip of seeing them kept him pacified and they damn well knew it.

Without thinking Peter opened the fridge and began to hash out the ingredients he'd use. Despite only being here for a few days he'd already gotten used to some kind of routine. It helped that he was the only decent cook in the house outside of May - Jones subsisted on whiskey and takeout, Gwen just bought corndogs and chocolate en masse and Captain Stacy seemed to think protein drinks were good enough; a sentiment he agreed with.

The little blob plopped back onto the table. Gwen made a token effort to wait for him before she decided it wasn't worth it. Peter set a quick chocolate confection to simmer while making his, Captain Stacy's and Jones' shares. They'd wake up soon.

Soon enough they were all sat around the dinner table with barely enough room to bump shoulders. Peter picked at his honeyed ham and tried not to think about how odd this still felt. Slowly but surely he was getting used to the idea of a 'normal' life. Still, it wasn't easy to just slide into it, not after months of traveling the world and having to survive in Middle East foxholes, snowy Siberian caves or, worst of all, France.

"Come on, Helena. Say ahhhh~" Gwen smiled brightly as she slowly lifted the spoon of baby mush to the cheery baby's mouth. Peter looked down to hide his own smile and started to cut the meat. Yeah, he could definitely get used to this.

"What time do your classes start, honey?" Captain Stacy asked.

"In a couple of hours. Don't worry, I won't be late." She pulled the middle and ring finger of her right hand back and made a 'thwip' noise, the smile still as bright as ever, "I'm gonna meet Cap after to see if we can figure something out about Pete's...situation." The multi-million dollar price on his head. Even Captain Stacy got worried when he heard about it, and Peter was pretty sure the man hated him.

"You think she can help you?" Jones asked. Peter had to admit, seeing her out of her regular leather jacket and jeans was odd. The oversized gray shirt and boxer shorts was a different look, "You said yourself that some guy from Roxxon corp made the hit. I don't think Captain America's got a good check on corporations. Not unless Roxxon asked for her advertising rights."

"It's better than doing nothing," Gwen replied, eyes still glued to her baby sister, "Besides, what do you suggest?"

"You keep going after the mercs. Eventually someone'll know something about who hired them and you can go up from there." That was the annoying thing about this. All Long John Silver told him was that Roxxon took out the hit on him. That meant anyone from the current CEO to a pissed off scientist with enough money was fair game.

"Except the only way to do that would be to dangle Peter like bait, and I'm  _not_  going to do that." Peter refrained from mentioning that he was, in fact, still here despite them acting like he wasn't, "Look, I know this isn't ideal, but it's the only choice we got. It wasn't just Peter who got put at risk. There were other innocent people caught in that asshole's games." Caught and died.

"...Better they come after me than running around after someone else," Peter said eventually, "That piece of garbage Arcade was a killer before I even got my bounty. That girl...I failed her, but at least Arcade's dead. He won't be adding any more bodies to that pile." Neither would Long John Silver or any other assassin greedy or confident enough to come after him.

"That's...not a healthy viewpoint, Peter," Captain Stacy said. Peter refrained from rolling his eyes; he didn't want to make a worse impression than he already did, "Gwen's right, better that you find a way to get rid of this bounty so you don't have go through that again."

He didn't just mean those deranged games. Everyone looking at a screen saw him execute Arcade with those rich pricks dying soon after. According to the new  _'97% of the public considered it justified and lauded his behavior'_ , tough there were a few outspoken cries of vigilante execution and murdering a surrendering man. Jameson was leading the cry, as expected, though he at least had the decency to say Arcade was human filth even if he did deserve a fair trial.

Probably helped that they were rich. Rich criminals always rubbed people wrong.

"We're  _not_  using you as bait." Gwen narrowed her eyes at him, "Jess, Norah and Cindy are already looking things up on their end and Cap should... _will_  have something. You just have to be patient."

"I can't stay for too long, Gwen. The Hand isn't going to wait forever." And he had to make sure the his 'team' didn't kill each other while he wasn't looking. Matt was one smug comment away from Lockley breaking his jaw and he still had no idea what the deal with Echo was. Or how she was even alive after that dunk she took. Any time he tried to ask it was like he was talking to a wall.

The only thing that kept him him from leaving right now was Page assuring him that Bullseye didn't remember who Gwen was. All he remembered was him, Matt, Lana and that night at the Hand's baby factory. He still worried over Lana falling victim, especially after Bullseye took the knife, but he knew she could take care of herself. The new powers helped, and so did her telepathic housemate.

"Please, they've been alive for like a million years. Then can wait a few days for you to kick their ass."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." The symbiote finished off its chocolate and nuzzled against his arm appreciatively. It was like a cat sometimes, "Look, I'm gonna go to the garage. Who's gonna be my babysitter?"

"I guess that'd be me," Captain Stacy said with a wry smile, "Just lemme finish my food."

15 minutes later and he, Captain Stacy and Helena were all situated in the garage. Peter powered over the table containing the disassembled webshooter along with a pair of gloves and boots. Gwen insisted he stay in but that didn't mean he had to be bored. So far he'd spent a few days just tinkering with Wasp's gear. That damn elevator 'game' really made him realize just how dangerous it was not to have a backup.

He finished tinkering with the glove and put it on his hand, "Alright, let's try this again." He looked up to the low roof and jumped. Captain Stacy's eyes followed him and Helena started laughing as Peter hung off one hand on the ceiling.

The adhesive surface faded and he fell to the ground with a dull thud, "Need to find a way to make them last longer." Gwen's webs tended to last for at least an hour. So far his attempts to coat the surface of the glove with web as makeshift adhesive was going slow. It was good if he wanted to crawl or run up a wall since the webs constantly dissolved and reformed, but if he wanted to stick like a spider he'd need a way to better control the timing.

"You're really good at that," Captain Stacy said. Peter nodded and continued to look down, "...Hey, you ever thought about using that for something other than vigilante work?"

"Sometimes." He started re-assembling the webshooter, "Wasp offered to try and find me something a year ago for Gwen's sake, but..." He clicked the trigger back into place, "Always too busy. Always some other mad clown with a mask and thirst for blood." Matt, Jack, Frost, Sin Eater...he didn't even have to go out of his way to find them. This place just attracted the psychopaths.

"You know Ben and May worry about you. Gwen and Helen too."

"Yeah, and I'm guessing you and Jones worry about Gwen every time she puts on a mask. I do too." He set down the re-assembled webshooter and turned to face the older man, "You don't like me much, do you?"

"That's an odd change of topic."

"Call it curiosity." Peter knelt in front of him and reached a hand out to the mumbling baby. She immediately grabbed his pointer finger with both hands and held onto it tight, "We never really talked about Bullseye sending me those pictures." Jack bombing a train station and then his face getting broadcasted put it all out of their minds.

That and Bullseye died pretty soon afterwards...

"No, we didn't..." Captain Stacy's hold on the baby tightened, though not enough for her to loosen her grip on Peter's finger, "...I'll admit I still have my doubts. When you and Gwen were kids I played at giving a hard time, but I wouldn't have minded if you two got together."

"What changed your mind?"

"The Lizard." Neither of them said a word. Helena tried to twist and pull his finger around without a care, "For two years I thought Spider-Woman was a murderer, that she took my daughter's best friend and...broke her. When I found out who she was I investigated. Gwen couldn't have killed her best friend, not without a reason. Even two years later she still missed him...you."

"I'm the one who turned your little girl into a killer, you mean." Peter smiled up at him sardonically, "Tell me something: if you knew who I was, why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

"Because Gwen didn't want to. She didn't want the Lizard to be your legacy." Helena finally let go of his finger and started nibbling on her own hand, "Even after Captain America offered her a chance to absolve herself it took her months to even consider it. It took Ben and May arguing that they could take the fallback for her to agree, and even now a part of her feels guilty."

"Always carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders." Peter finally looked up to meet his gaze, "So how do you feel now? The Lizard come back as a killer vigilante."

"I've seen the things you've done, the 'friends' you've made. I can't agree with everything that you've done, but..." He took a deep breath, "Gwen trusts you - loves you - and that means I trust you too. I may not agree with some of your methods, and I probably never will, but you're more like her than you want to admit. Always trying to be everywhere at once, even when you know you can't be."

"Speaking from experience there, Captain?"

"Heh, just might be." He chuckled wryly and suddenly offered Helena up to him, "Wanna hold her?"

"...Sure."

He took the baby in his arms and carried her with no small amount of hesitation. Helena babbled and tried to reach a hand out to his face, "...This kid's gonna have an insane life." Dad was the guy who took down the former Kingpin, mom was a superpowered P.I and her older sister was Spider-Woman. Oh, and her godmom was Hawkeye, which was another can of worms entirely.

"Yeah, it'll be...something." Captain Stacy chuckled again, "...You know Gwen wanted you to be the Godfather."

"Bad idea."

"She doesn't seem to think so. Jessica seems fine with it, mostly cause she doesn't know anyone else for the job with Kate and her sister already filling in roles." He accepted Helena back, "You should talk to her about it."

"Sure. Right after we deal with her wanting me to go to college."

* * *

**Dragonkin:** No one's seen Spider-Man in days. Wonder what happened to him?

**BG3:**  He and the rest of the new Defenders got caught in some fucked up death game. If I was him I'd lay low for a bit.

**DepartmentOfButtKicking:**  Lol, Spider-Mans running with his tail between his legs. Kinda sad when you have to get your your girlfriends to save you.

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  You're just jealous he has some. Go cry to someone who cares.

**Monsterin69:** The rest of the Defenders are MIA too. Still don't know how that ninja lady survived that fall. Any idea,  **StrikerNotBombshell**?

**StrikerNotBombshell** : Fuck if I know. Didn't even know she was someone Pete was teaming up with till I saw em in that game.

**BG3:**  Aren't you part of the Defenders?

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  You guys were the ones who called us that. We all just teamed up cause we wanted to stop that possessed prick Murdock. We aren't friends; the only one I liked was Pete.

**BlackCatHardy:** Oh? And here I thought we were getting along,  _Bombshell_.

**StrikerNotBombshell:** Of fuck off pussycat.

* * *

Gwen swung over to the designated meeting place, one hand holding onto a web and another pressing a phone against her ear, "You sure you got it, MJ?"

" _Yes_ , I'm sure. Trust me, Tiger's being a good little boy and staying still."

"Good. Make sure he doesn't disappear or anything. He loves to do that." She cut the call and and put the phone back into her 'pocket'. She knew he was getting impatient and honestly she couldn't blame him. If someone told her to sit still and let everyone else handle the problem then she wouldn't take it well either.

**'Then why are you keeping Peter inside?'**

_'Because I saw him almost die over a dozen times and there was nothing I could do about it.'_  Yes, she was being a hypocrite. She could live with it. She'd made more than her fair share of compromises the past year, _'Besides, it keeps him away from Murderdock and Page.'_ She still had no idea how Peter could trust either of them after the crap they pulled.

The place Cap asked to meet up in was a relatively high condo with an open terrace; high enough that no one could peek in without being really obvious about it. Gwen landed close to the pool and walked inside through the blacked out glass doors.

The interior didn't math the exterior. The inside was dimly lit with nothing but the most spartan accommodations - a table with a couch in the living room and another table with just three chairs and a refrigerator at the dining area. The place was dimly light with the windows covered entirely in curtains and blacked out glass. Seemed more like a prison cell than anything.

Cap was sitting on the dining table, a plain sandwich and a bottle of water untouched in front of her. She was lucking her customary reds, white and blues in favor of a plain white shirt and a pair of dark sweatpants and sneakers.

The occupant matched the place, at least.

"Nice place." Gwen whistled.

Cap smiled slightly up at her, "Thanks. I've had it for a while." She uncapped the water and began drinking as Gwen sat down across from her. She pulled off her mask and set it between them, "I'm sorry for the sparse accomodations, but you contacted on relatively short notice and I just came back from a mission."

"Yeah, dealing with the M.O.D.A.A.K remnants in the Mexican border. It was all over the news last night." She leaned forward slightly to look the older woman up and down. No injuries or anything, but the bags under her eyes weren't comforting, "...What is this place anyway?" Gwen asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"My place."

"Uh...seems a bit..."

"Barren?" Cap gave a single, wry laugh, "Yeah, I know. Peggy and Jen keep trying to make me buy more, but I'm used to it. Going through dimensions for decades, you try not to get too attached. Makes it harder to leave."

"What, you planning to leave?" If she did Gwen had no idea who'd take over the Avengers.

"God no, but...sometimes I stayed just a few minutes in a dimension, but one time I spent almost 20 years. Almost settled down there with that world's Steve." She leaned back slightly and Gwen nodded sympathetically. Cap apparently had something with Steve Rogers back in the 40's before that portal took her on a dimensional road trip. Coming back to find out he was old and gray and practically banging down death's door hurt.

"So why not splurge?"

"I guess I'm still trying to get used to the idea that this is home. Gimme another decade or two." Another laugh, slightly more bitter this time, "But we're not here to talk about me. You're here about the bounty on Peter's head."

"Right...so, any luck?"

"You know corporate politics aren't my thing." Gwen sighed and stared down at the table. She expected that, but that didn't mean she wasn't disappointed, "But that doesn't mean I can't help you."

As if on cue, the elevator let out a soft ding and she heard the telltale sound of a cane tapping against the ground. Gwen froze briefly before quickly grabbing her mask and lowering into a crouched, battle-ready position.

The man with the cane was not, in fact, Murdock. It was an older man wearing a primly pressed gray and white suit. His wrinkled face - he was easily in his 50's or 60's - was impassive and the dark shades blocked his eyes from view. The only noticeable color on him was the head of red hair, but even that was slicked back into an even cut and had streaks of gray dotted across the surface.

He raised a brow slightly down at her, "If you're expecting a fight then you're gonna be disappointed." His voice was rough and scratchy, the sound of someone who'd smoked too many cigarettes in his lifetime.

"Right..." Gwen stood back up slowly. She stared at the cane on his right hand then to the leg he was leaning on. Different kind of cane, "Uh...who are you?"

"This is Henry Peter Gyrich," Cap said, "He's a...I guess you could call him a friend."

"A friend? You're being generous. Let's call it like it is: we tolerate each other." He limped to the spare chair and sat down slowly. Gwen still hadn't moved, "If you'd prefer to remain standing that's fine. I won't be long." He pulled a folder from his coat and set it on the table, "I assume you're already aware that that the one who put a price on your boyfriend's head is the Roxxon corporation?"

"Yeah, uh..." Gwen shook her head, "Uh, sorry, but could you tell me who you are? Are you a private investigator or..."

"A private investigator? Hah, wouldn't that be something." He gave her an open toothed smile. It looked fake, "No, I work for the government. I won't bore you with the details, but rest assured, Ms. Stacy-" She froze, "-that I know who you are and have no intention of using that to blackmail you or force you to do my bidding. I'm a man of pragmatism and I don't much enjoy the idea of poking the Spider with a stick."

"What, you're telling me you're a fan?"

"God no." He finally let go of the cane and leaned back on his chair, "If you're asking if I like you or the others of your trend? No. Do I trust you? Not in particular." Gwen crossed her arms and just waited for him to continue, "But despite all that do I think you all are the better alternative? Without a doubt."

"So glad to have your approval." She rolled her eyes.

"We live in an insane time, Spider-Woman. Alien invasions, demons appearing in Times Square, terrorists who use mad science and magic instead of zealots with bomb vests. I'd like to go back to living in a time where I understood the threats and knew how to counter them, but we don't live in that time anymore. Without The Avengers and the Initiative those green men would've had us dead to rights. Without Spider-Man and his ragtag group of psychopaths that demon would've continued its madness for decades - centuries - more."

"What he means is that he's on our side until we prove otherwise," Cap said.

"I'm also one of the reasons, besides this city's mad adoration of you, why your boyfriend doesn't have a noose around his neck anymore," Gyrich continued, "Some cops would love nothing more than to hang Spider-Man up on the wall and pat themselves a job well done. But I'm not a fool. Just a few days ago he and another man identifying himself as 'Blade' were the only reason Vampires - because we needed more insanity in this place - didn't kill off an entire school. It would've made every school shooting look like a paintball match if they weren't there. If we lose Spider-Man then that's one less hero who tackles that madness free of charge."

"I get it, it's in your best interest he survives and that's why you're helping me. I speak government double speak." Well, not really, but she picked up some stuff from Cindy, "Could we get back on topic? Who's the guy who put a price on Peter's head."

"I assume you're aware of Donald Roxxon?" Gwen nodded. He opened the file and smack dab on the front were two pictures. One of him smiling in a suit - must've been a press conference - and another, more recognizable one of him with long hair and in costume, "He's officially signing up for the Initiative in a month's time. I guess he thinks being the CEO and the Corporate sponsored hero is a power move of some kind."

"He's the one who put the bounty on Peter?"

"From the intelligence we've gathered, yes." Gwen's hands clenched into tight fists, "We've been observing the Roxxon corporation for a while now. The company has a spotty history involving the weapons trade and human experimentation. Normally it wouldn't be my jurisdiction, but Roxxon Sr. had a habit of selling to the highest bidder, which included the likes of H.Y.D.R.A and S.I.L.K. That  _made_  them our problem."

"So how do you know this guy did it?"

"He didn't cover his tracks quite so well. Bank accounts we traced indicated that he tried to siphon millions from multiple accounts into a slush fund, totaling the price of the bounty on your boyfriend's head. Now it could be he's just planning to bribe a politician, but the timing and the individual in question makes me doubt he's just planning to get a fast track on some safety regulations."

"If you already know all this then why not arrest him?'

"On what charges? For us illegally checking his bank account? For putting millions in a fund that he could just as easily say he was planning to donate to charity? He'll be out within the day. And just in case you're thinking of going over there and beating him down, I'd suggest against it. Not only do you have no credible proof you also can't be certain that he doesn't have contingencies in place to up the bounty in case he croaks."

"I wasn't planning on  _killing_  him..."

"Be that as it may, I'd suggest against any overt action. It's more than just your boyfriend's life at stake." He flipped a few more papers and showed some blurry pictures of what looked like S.I.L.K's stasis tanks, "We have reason to believe that Roxxon Jr's followed in daddy's footsteps and restarted his experiments. The problem is, again, that all we have to go on are a few blurry pictures sent by some guilt-ridden scientist. He hasn't contacted us again with a location, so I can only assume he dropped off the grid or that leak was plugged."

"Great..." Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose while Webster tried to warm her stomach to calm her down, "So what, we're stuck?"

"Not quite." Cap sighed, "It's quite clear by his social media presence and some interviews that he's fond of Spider-Woman."

"Ugh, just what I needed; another crazy fan." Bad enough that Avril was an admirer, now she had a mad scientist CEO supervillain.

"But it's something you can use to your advantage," Cap said, "If this is true then it's quite possible that the reason for the bounty on Spider-Man's head is tied to you as well." Gwen's eyes narrowed. He didn't like what she was implying, "I doubt it's a coincidence that he received a 20 million bounty on his head so soon after he resurfaced in New York."

"Just get to the point."

"What she's saying is that you might be able to find a way to kill two birds with one stone." Gyrich leaned forward and pressed his hands together, "We have mutual goals. We both want the price on Spider-Man's head removed and I'm sure the idea of innocent people being experimented on doesn't appeal to you either. I suggest trying to endear yourself to him. Earn his trust and we can save both Spider-Man and those people."

"What, you want me to seduce him? If you know who I am then you should know I'm not really a supermodel heiress."

"That doesn't matter. It's quite clear that like many in this city he's simply in love with the idea of Spider-Woman." Just like Peter before that night at prom... "This is all conjecture, of course. It's quite possible he's simply a casual admirer, but it's doubtful. Men like Roxxon don't give admiration out so handily. There's a very decent chance that his admiration for you will be his downfall."

"Makes me sound like some kind of femme fatale there, Henry." She took a deep breath, "Fine. I don't like this, but if it means getting that price off Peter's head and saving those people he's experimenting on, I'll play ball." Guess she'd have to talk to Cindy about some spy lessons. But she was  _not_  wearing a scarf, "Just contact me if you need anything. Pretty sure you have my phone number in some super secret database somewhere."

"Sure. Best of luck, Spider-Woman."

Gwen swung out of the depressing condo and swung till she was on a relatively high building. The view of New York in the setting sun calmed her down, however slightly,  **'Are you okay, Gwen?'**

_'Not really...'_  She stood up from crouched position on the tip and balanced on one foot with her arms spread,  _'It's just...this got way more complicated than I thought it'd be. I thought it'd be some businessman with a grudge, not the fucking CEO.'_

**'We can stop him. Then we'll save Peter and the rest of those innocents.'**

_'Here's hoping.'_  She felt torn knowing just how much attention the government paid attention to Peter. On the one hand she felt happy there was a safety net making sure the cops didn't aim for the face, on the other she couldn't trust that Gyrich guy would keep seeing Peter - or her - as useful forever.

Or maybe she was just being paranoid.

Her prioricard beeped. Gwen pulled it out of her pocket and almost threw it away in disgust when she saw Roxxon asking for a team-up. She got invites from him and Eugene every couple of days for the past week, but she'd been too busy with everything to accept,  _'Guess I gotta play spy now.'_  She accepted the invitation and immediately got a GSP ping before she let herself fall back to the ground.

Time to make the guy pay.

* * *

**Ys19:**  So real talk. Anyone else think Spider-Man's totally a bottom? Like he acts tough and prickly but he's really a chihuaha?

**No1SpiderManFan:**  OMG yes! Like I can totally see that!

**TazmanianAngel:**  Really? I always imagined him to be the top. Like, this guy's all primal and angsty and stuff so it fits.

**Ys19:**  Nah, you can tell it's all bark when it comes to Spider-Woman. That and she has tentacles, my comrades. He's definitely taking it up somewhere.

**SpiderWomanMadeMeDoThis:**  My second post and this is what I find. I'm deleting my account.

**No1SpiderManFan:**  Wait, don't go! I need to know who's little spoon!

**Spinerette:**  Welcome to the jungle, Pete. It's not fun over here.

* * *

" _Yes_ , I'm sure. Trust me, Tiger's being a good little boy and staying still."

Mary Jane waved off Gwen's final warning and cut the call. The redhead pocketed the phone and sighed as she leaned back on her bed. She and Peter were over at her place instead of the Stacy's. He'd begged her that he needed some air; or at least some different wallpaper. It took him a while but eventually she'd caved and agreed on the condition he not try to go invisible on the short walk over.

To his credit, he didn't.

**_'It probably helps that now you're alone with him,'_**  Crimson whispered. She ignored it,  ** _'Your mom and sister aren't here and Stacy trusts you.'_**

_'You gotta ruin everything, don't you?'_

_**'I try.'** _

"Come on, Cin, can't you do something?" Mary Jane smiled at him. He paced in front of a chair on the other end of the small room with his phone glued to his ears. He'd cycled between her, Lana and Norah, trying to see if they could find some way to get past Gwen's Mama Spider antics. So far he hadn't had any luck, and judging by how Cindy sounded on the other end she was tired of his begging.

Peter cut the call after a few more minutes and cursed, "No luck, Tiger?"

"No. Apparently Cindy agrees with Gwen this time."

"Gee, she doesn't want you to get your head cut off. How horrible of her." He threw her a dry look and she shrugged, "Listen, if you're bored you can watch TV. We've got-"

"If you say Webflicks I'm going to shoot myself." He sat down on the chair and brought a hand through his face, "I get why Gwen's worried, but just staying here with nothing to do's making me go insane."

"What about those gadgets you were working on?"

"I'm still waiting for a response from Wasp about the changes I made."

"Well..." Mary Jane bit her lip. It couldn't hurt to  _ask_ , right? "Hey, back during high school you, or whatever you wanna call him, you were really into photography. Still have the habit?"

"Somewhat? I usually take pictures for proof or when Norah needs something." Yeah, she still called him her photomonkey sometimes, "Why? Need something photographed?"

"Kinda..." She sat up properly and put her hands on her feet, "The modeling gig's still a part time gig and the guy in charge said we could probably do better if we make a portfolio. You know, show off different poses, see how well we can pull off different outfits. It's not a requirement or anything, but they said that it could help out."

"Okay...?"

"Outfits I already got, but problem is I need a photographer. It doesn't have to be uber professional or anything - no green screen or fancy lighting - but I don't think a selfie stick or a timer's gonna cut it." And Norah was too busy still poring over the files Cindy got from that bastard Arcade. She should receive a call from her soon... "So I was wondering if you could..."

"Be your photomonkey?" He grinned wryly, "Sure. Beats just sitting on my keister going nuts. You got a camera?"

"Oh, sure. Should be at the table in Gayle's room. Turn right and it's the first door on the left."

Peter left and Mary Jane immediately locked the door and pulled out clothes from her closet, ** _'Don't think I don't know what you're doing.'_  **God, where were her headphones when she needed them?  ** _'Trying to entice him by showing off. Clever girl.'_**

_'Would you shut up?'_

**_'Hey, I'm not complaining. You do whatever you want, little red.'_ **

She'd changed into a new outfit - blue blouse, black skirt and boots - when she finally opened the door. Peter blinked then looked her up and down quickly, "Yeah, yeah, not my usual style." She rolled her eyes good-naturedly while he fiddled with the camera, "Sorry, it's pretty old, but the quality should be good. Just need a few pics anyway, show I'm serious about the whole thing."

"Right..."He looked around the room then suddenly pushed her caibinet to the side, "Stand over there. The wallpaper's less noticeable and I don't want any reflections." He dimmed one of the lights, "This should look better too."

"Whatever you say, Tiger."

Mary Jane did her practiced poses. Peter took the pictures quickly, his face passive and focused. She didn't know how to feel about that. It was after the sixth picture that she spoke up, "Hey, I need to change clothes." She gesture to the other scattered clothes on the bed.

"Sure, I'll leave-"

"You don't have to," she said before she could stop herself. An awkward quiet settled over the room and Mary Jane said her next words in a rush, "I mean, you can just turn around. I'm sure you won't peek..."

**_'You want him to, though.'_ **

"Uh...sure. Just tell me when you're done."

He turned around and stared resolutely as the wall as she began to take off her clothes. The heavy silence had returned, broken only by the sounds of shifting cloth. Mary Jane tried to ignore how sensitive the clothes suddenly felt against her skin or how loud Crimson was laughing, "I'm done..." A short sleeved hoodie, skinny jeans and chucks. Something a bit more her speed.

The process repeated for every outfit. 4-6 pictures each, change into a different one, repeat; and each time Mary Jane was tempted to look back. She didn't know what she expected to find. Did she think he'd peek? Would she had been disappointed or relieved when he didn't?

"You can turn around now." A dark red flannel shirt, jean shorts and sandals. Not enticing, but not every model had to be dressed up like arm candy, "We just need 4 or 5 more then we're done."

"Sure. No problem." He smiled awkwardly.

He snapped the pictures quickly and soon enough they were sitting side-by-side on the bed poring over the photos to choose the best ones. The guy suggested 10-15 at the most to avoid being too clogged, "This looks good." Peter tapped the screen. The picture was her sitting with her back against the wall and her arms wrapped around her jean-covered knees, "We should get at least one or two from every outfit."

"Sure." She had no idea what possessed her to say what she did next, but it was too late to stop once she did, "You know...they did suggest other kinds of photos."

And then she started unbuttoning her shirt. Peter's eyes widened briefly before he suddenly grabbed her right hand, "What are you doing?"

"Some models do lingerie and swimsuits. I figured it'd be better if we added a couple, you know?" The excuse sounded pathetic even to her. Peter let go of her hand slowly and they just stared at each other, her hands still holding onto the middle of the flannel. Her red bra peeked through the gap, "I mean, only if you want. It's just a couple of photos. Not like I'm gonna go au naturel."

_**'You keep telling yourself that.'** _

"I...I'm not sure if-"

Footsteps. Mary Jane jumped off the bed and managed to unbutton her shirt just as Gayle opened the door without even knocking, "Hey, MJ. Mr. Stacy's downstairs and he's asking for Spider-Man."

"Guess your babysitting gig's over, huh?" Peter gave her a forced, wry smile.

"Yeah..." Gayle looked between them in confusion.

Mary Jane waited till the two men left and Gayle was back in her room before she took the train out to the city. 10 minutes later she was standing on top of a large building and staring down at traffic below, 'hair' whipping in the wind. No had seen her yet.

_'Damn it, I'm such an asshole...'_ After everything Peter and Gwen did - were  _still doing_  - for her she still thought she had to right to butt in and ruin what they had? God, what the fuck was wrong with her?

**_'Why are you making such a big deal out of this?'_ **

_'Because they're my friends!'_  She mentally shouted back, _'Friends don't...I owe them too much to be the one that ruins things.'_

_**'It's funny. You worry more about this than the people you killed four days ago.'** _

Her biting response was cut off when her phone suddenly vibrated. She saw Norah's picture and answered the call, "What's up?"

"I found our slippery little eel." Her hold on the phone tightened, "Jason Turner, father of the now-deceased Madelyn Turner. He's in New York."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Guy doesn't have much, so I don't think he could afford to have someone smuggle him out. Was probably why he wasn't in Arcade's list with the rest of his clients." There was a pause, "Are you sure you wanna do this, MJ?"

"Could you get this guy arrested?"

"With Arcade dead? Not gonna lie, it'll be pretty hard. I had to scrounge up some of my slimier contacts. Apparently Turner's got a bit of a rep for being particularly slimy." No shit. Even most lowlives wouldn't sell their fucking  _kid_ , "I just...I wanna make sure you know what you're doing."

"I think it's a bit late to ask that, Norah."

"Yeah..."

Mary Jane cut the call and waited for her to text the location,  ** _'Finally.'_** Crimson practically cheered. Mary Jane rolled her eyes and swung to the location. It was just 15 minutes away by webswinging.

She wasn't alone when she got there.

Mary Jane landed behind the red-clad figure, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Daredevil turned around and she really wanted to punch the grin off his face, "Same as you, I suppose." He pointed to the rusted hunk of metal that served as a door, "That's where the person you're looking for is. It's one of his dens."

"...How the hell do you know about that?"

"You weren't the only one searching for him," he replied vaguely, "Come on then, you first."

"Gee, thanks."

The door wasn't even locked. Mary Jane opened the door and almost retched when the smell hit her. That perfect cocktail or booze, piss, 'fluids' and b.o. Daredevil scrunched his face up slightly behind, "That's a rather...pungent odor." Mary Jane nodded slightly and practically pulled the door off its hinges before stepping inside. She felt dirty already.

The place was, to put it elegantly, an absolute trash hole. No furniture or personal items apart from a ratty sleeping bag and the man himself on the other end of the room far away from said sleeping bag. Mary Jane wrinkled her nose and tried to ignore the uncomfortable smack of something wet hitting her boot. She'd just pretend it was blood or something.

"Whuzza? Whozzere?" Her feelings of disgust only worsened when she saw him in full. He was an older man- at least 40, though the scraggly beard added just a bit more age to him. The ratty hoodie and scuffed up jeans and boots only served to worsen the look, "'f yer lookin' for Dave he's out. Pissed off Ox."

"We're not looking for him." Mary Jane crouched in front of him and then pulled out Madelyn Turner's photo on her phone, "Recognize her."

The waste of skin's eyes widened for just a split second before he quickly looked away, "N-No, sorry. Ya got-"

Mary Jane growled and slammed him against the wall by his neck, ** _"Don't lie to me!"_  **His mouth gaped like a fish and he was too busy wetting himself to even put up a fight,  ** _"You sold your daughter to that monster!"_**

"I...I didn't! I swear!"

"He's technically correct," Daredevil said behind her, "Given his poor state it's doubtful that Arcade bought the child from him directly. I'm assuming that he sold her to someone else who then sold through intermediaries and eventually she found her way to that little gremlin's hands."

_**"It doesn't change what he did..."** _

"I never said it does. However..." Without any hint of fear he grabbed her wrist and tugged it down gently, "He must know who he sold to, and that information makes his life of value for probably the first time in his life. So, Mr. Turner, would you be so kind as to answer that implied question?"

"But-"

"I could of course just leave this woman here to her previous actions."

"No, no, no, wait! I'll talk!" He screamed in a rush, "Just...Just lemme down and I'll talk!"

**_'Let him down.'_ **

_'Seriously?'_

**_'He'll lead us to more meat.'_ **

Her grip on his neck tightened briefly and then she set him down on the floor. The guy collapsed butt first and just looked up at them both like someone meeting the grim reaper, "I...I..." He wiped a smudged hand on his sweatstained forehead, "I-I know a guy. S-Saw Maddie and said that...that he'd forgive all my debts 'if I just give her up. Said someone was lookin' for a little girl."

"A name, Mr. Turner. Quit stalling," Murdock said.

"D-Dunno his real name, but...but everyone calls him Fancy Dan."

_'Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me!'_ Mary Jane almost screamed but managed to hold it in at the last second. Fancy Dan? The guy who she'd met like three times now?

Crimson laughed,  _ **'I told you we should've killed them, but noooo! Sometimes you really do have to just listen to me.'**_

_'Shut up!'_

"Well, that's interesting." Murdock grinned, "I suppose I should leave Scarlet Spider here to her business then."

"Wait." She lashed out and grabbed his wrist, "I'm coming with you." Fancy Dan...she knew that bastard was a piece of work, but this?

"Oh? Well, I won't stop you."

"Hold on." She waited for the piece of human trash to stand up before asking her next question, "Those debts...what were they for?"

"Wh-Why does that-"

_**"Answer me!"** _

"Drugs! Just...I was into some bad shit and I-"

She morphed her hand into a blade and impaled him through the gut. The two of them just stared at each other, his eyes wide and hers narrowed, before she slowly pulled the blade out. All he could do was try to futilely cover the gaping hole with his hands as he sunk to the floor.

"That seemed a bit...excessive." Matt hummed, "Can't he doesn't deserve it, however. Come on, we should go. It'll probably be weeks before anyone finds him. The stench of a rotting body mixes very well with the surroundings."

Mary Jane just watched the blood pool out till it hit the underside of her feet. So much for Gwen's attempts to make her a hero. She looked down at her bloodstained hands and and took a deep breath.

Some people just deserved to die.

* * *

**FarFromHome:** So what's the ship names for everyone?

**1984IsOverrated:** TwoSpiders for Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, everyone knows that.

**CPUGOD:** Spinerette is usually Spin or Ette attached to something. Like pairing her with Spider-Man or Spider-Woman is Spiderette. Or pairing her with Bombshell is Spinshell.

**Avuio:**  SpiderDevil's really taking off recently. You could feel the sexual tension the two had a few days ago.

**IHearVoices:**  What about Scarlet Spider? Or is she too new for that?

**CPUGOD:**  I've already seen one Spinerette/Spider-Woman/Scarlet Spider fic tagged as Neopolitan. Don't think she has any solo pairing names, though.

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  Punisher/Spider-Man is Punished Spider.

**CPUGOD:**  Always sounded kinda emo to me.

**FarFromHome:**  Yo so we're all just gonna ignore Striker shipping two of her ex-teammates?

**CPUGOD:**  This is a safe space, dude. No judgement.

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  Just curious, is there one for me and Pete?

**CPUGOD:**  Yep. Arachnid Boom. It's the same ship name you and Spider-Girl have.

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  Least they aren't calling be Bombshell...

**CPUGOD:**  Your most popular pairing is Sue Storm. Ship names are Fantastic Due or Explosive Star. I prefer the latter.

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  Shit, Sue's gonna  _flip_  when I tell her...I look forward to it :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being rather dark so I used most of the twitter segments to try and lighten the mood. Whether it works or not is up to you, but hopefully this chapter was good regardless.
> 
> Anyway, the next chapter will be the conclusion to the Mayday omake because I've left that hanging for too long already.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. How do you guys feel whenever Gwen gets overprotective of her loved ones, especially Peter and MJ? In this chapter specifically she keeps Peter 'grounded', but it's also not hard to see why she did so considering what happened with Arcade and Noir's tendency to get caught in trouble.
> 
> 2\. Whose story feels the most boring currently? I personally think I'm not doing enough with Gwen so hopefully her dealing with Roxxon and showing off more of the governmental stuff with Gyrich really helps out.
> 
> 3\. Son on a scale of 1 to Creep, how much of a scumbag was Mary Jane for what she did in the room? While it's partly justified in that Carnage reduces her inhibitions a lot of people might see it as too off.


	21. Tangled Spiders (Mayday Omake 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey-ho! Sorry this took a while. Between work, board exam reviews and other stuff I never really had the time to write. Hell, I had to write this one up while at work so it might not be the best quality, but hopefully it's good enough.
> 
> This is the second and final part of the Mayday omake for Nerdman3000. Not my best work admittedly but I owed the guy and I'm hoping he likes this. Next chapter will focus back on the plot with Cindy and Lana.
> 
> Side note - Matt's absolutely dominating the love interest poll, though Felicia's catching up. This is gonna be one fucked up pairing...
> 
> Also, I binge watched You Me Her on Netflix and yeah, polyamory is interesting but so supremely difficult to write due to all the relationship problems, possessiveness and incompatible plans for the future. Would've been interesting for Peter/Gwen/MJ to tackle it, but eh.

**MaximumOverdrive:**  So legit question time. Why does everyone admire Spider-Woman? She goes around doing the 'superhero' thing, yeah, but it's not like it's hard for her. If I could lift tanks and eat bullets it'd be no big deal for me to fight supervills either.

**shouldvegottentheTURBO:**  Who cares if it's easier for her?

**MaximumOverdrive:**  Because it doesn't mean anything! Like, if a guy with two arms stops and picks up some litter it's nothing special, but if a guy in a wheelchair does it it's much harder. Spider-Woman stopping crime is like me passing someone food on the table. Its nice, but it's not hard and I don't expect applause for it.

**PeaceandCalmandScreams:** Like the other guy said, who cares? My friend is rich and he pays for our dinner whenever we go out. We don't tell him 'you're rich so it doesn't mean anything'. He's still giving up his time and money for us and we appreciate it.

**shouldvegottentheTURBO:** Yeah dude. If I had super strength and shit I'd just use it to lift the couch whenever the remote got stuck not fight crime. Spider-Womans running around saving people and she did that even when everyone was giving her shit for 'killing' Peter Parker.

**Rolfenmeister:**  Also she kinda did help stop an alien invasion and Red Skull's crazy fucking crotch goblin from nuking us.

**MaximumOverdrive:**  Ugh, I give up. You fanboys are fucking blind.

**PeaceandCalmandScreams:**  Sounds like someone's just salty and trying to be a contrarian.

**Rolfenmeister:**  Lol, found Jameson's alt account. Ain't fooling anyone brushhead!

* * *

Mayday leaned back against the bed and tried to keep her breathing level. Mary Jane had rushed her over to the Wasp's place after her 'episode' and the size changing scientist had spent the past couple of hours checking over her condition. She could only thank her lucky stars that she hadn't had another one of those...whatever the hell that was. She wasn't sure she could take another burst.

So far Mayday hadn't done anything but play test subject in the clear room. Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen arrived just a few minutes ago while Spinerette and Striker were still out combing the city for clues. Her episode made it very clear that they didn't have as much time as they thought.

"This is...troubling." Wasp said, eyes still glued to the translucent screen. She looked just like the Wasp she read about as a kid on those old Avengers comics, though apparently in this world Hank Pym was her old mentor instead of her husband. Weird, "Your molecular structure seems to be...fluctuating, if that's the right word. It's as if your existence is a Schrodinger's box."

"English, please?" Mayday asked softly.

"It means you both should and shouldn't be here." Wasp replaced the holographic screen with another while Mary Jane looked on worriedly, "This dimension knows that you don't belong here, and you do as well. Think of it like a dimensional immune system. When foreign substances enter the body the white blood cells rush to incapacitate it before it can spread across the body-

"Meaning I'm the virus in this analogy." She didn't know whether to laugh or feel insulted, "But that doesn't make any sense. I've traveled to other dimensions before and I never had to deal with this." She had to deal with her dad being evil or finding out that in one world Norman Osborn was her godfather, but that was at least manageable.

"Those previous instances were under controlled circumstances, correct?" Mayday nodded, "From what you've told me about how you came here I can only assume that the gate that took you three was unstable. My knowledge on dimensional transportation is rather basic at the moment, but I can infer well enough that without proper tethering you aren't fully transported outside of your dimension."

"That doesn't make much sense either," Spider-Man said, "When my...brother got here with Octavius it wasn't that different from how Spider-Girl got here with her Ock. He and Octavius ended up just fine...for the most part."

"Not every dimensional portal is built the same, especially given the theoretical, and not to mention technological, differences. There's more than one way to pluck a bird, as that saying goes." Uh...Mayday was pretty sure that wasn't how it went, but cool, "However you want to argue this Ms. Parker's state is unstable and if we don't do something soon it will only worsen."

Well...crap. Mayday shut her eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm herself. So much for being a normal day of heroing. A part of her was already kicking herself for all this. Maybe if she'd been more careful in the fight, maybe if she hadn't been so damn cocky and just waited for Darkdevil like he wanted, this wouldn't have happened. Now she was being killed by something she couldn't even fight.

Spider-sense.

The convulsing returned stronger than before. Mayday fell off the bed and landed on the floor on her right side. Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man and Mary Jane rushed in immediately with the latter holding onto her tightly as the quick, painful episode passed, "...That smarts," Mayday muttered. Before thinking better of it she leaned more into Mary Jane's arms and closed her eyes.

"Shit!" Spider-Gwen said loudly. Mayday looked up at her and found the other Spider pacing worriedly, "Okay, okay, okay. We gotta...we gotta get Mayday back. We'll call up Cindy and she can get her old S.H.I.E.L.D friends. They have a portal-"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Gwen," Wasp said. Mary Jane helped Mayday up to the bed as the scientist stepped closer, "Finding a portal is only part of the problem. We have no idea which dimension Ms. Parker came from. Blindly going through universes hoping we get lucky like Samantha did years ago won't help and will likely deteriorate her condition."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Gwen asked back heatedly.

"We follow the old plan," Mayday said. Her voice sounded a bit weaker than she would've liked, "Ock knows the coordinates to go back. She was planning to steal tech from different universes to get a leg up back in mine. If we can find her she can tell us what we need." Hopefully without having to be 'persuaded'. She was never really good at the growly voice thing.

"Meaning we gotta find em before they leave, cause something tell's me they aren't going to stick around for you..." Spider-Man said.

"Yeah, never was one for carpooling." Mayday grinned, though it was obviously forced, "Have they had any luck?"

"Nothing so far." Spider-Gwen frowned, "Norah's trying to look up any tech stolen or power fluctuations like you said, but so far she's still chasing smoke. Cindy and Lana haven't had much luck either."

"Great..."

"Here." Wasp handed Mayday a watch which the teenager put on without a word. The screen showed numbers counting down, "I've done my best to try and gauge the time between your spasms. I can't remove them, but this should allow you to brace yourself and prepare. Better than being caught unawares while webswinging or in the middle of a fight."

"Thanks." Mayday smiled and nodded gratefully. Even with how messed up things were she genuinely felt thankful for how much help she was getting from the others.

"I wish we could do more..." Spider-Gwen mumbled. Mayday wondered idly if the one her dad knew was just like her, "Me and Pete'll go out and continue searching. You stay here with MJ and-"

"Not gonna happen." She pulled herself into a shaky stand, "You heard what Wasp said, the timer's counting down." She raised her wrist. The ticking numbers were just a little under two hours, "Taking it easy isn't an option here."

"She's got a point, Gwencent. Staying here won't help her." Mary Jane said.

"Agreed." Spider-Man said last.

"Alright, alright, I know when I'm outnumbered." Gwen rolled her eyes and threw her hands up, exasperated, "We should go with you in pairs, though. I don't want you going around alone considering you're glitching out."

"Better than calling me a virus," she snarked, "So, who's gonna be my partner?"

The three of them looked at each other in turn. Mary Jane looked like she was about to speak up but Gwen beat her to it, "I'll take first watch. MJ already helped you out earlier and we can move faster. Pete can't webswing." He couldn't? That was weird She kinda just assumed all of them could do it, "Besides, Peter's contacts are a bit on the, um..."

"Let's just say they aren't much fans of Superheroes." Mayday's eyes narrowed. What the heck did  _that_  mean? "Don't gimme that look. They aren't criminals, they just don't like most people in costumes. Living below the poverty line tends to make you resent the people up on billboards."

"And they don't resent you?" Mayday asked

"You see any billboards with me on it?" Just the one, but she got the feeling neither he or Spider-Gwen appreciated it, "Look, all I'm saying is it'll be easier without the Superheroes hanging around."

"Alright, point made." He reminded her way too much of Darkdevil right now.

They all said their goodbyes to Wasp and she and Spider-Gwen went out to the usual villain hotspots, as Gwen called them. No Ocks or Canis', but they did run into a bunch of other costumed travelers of the night. A group being led by someone called White Rabbit particularly ticked Gwen off along with another guy dressed like the Hamburglar robbing a bodega.

Both of them also claimed to be her arch-enemy, which Spider-Gwen vehemently denied. Mayday could sympathize.

It lasted for a couple of days. Every few hours they switched up 'babysitters' and traversed their usual haunts. Except for Spider-Man. He justified it by saying he wasn't as fast as the others but Mayday definitely didn't miss how cagey he could be sometimes. It probably had something to do with where he ended up being compared to the others.

She definitely didn't miss the blood on his knuckles.

"Here." Mayday took the offered corndog and Spider-Gwen sat next to her on the edge of the building. So far their current patrol had turned up zilch and she'd already had another. It was why they decided to stop and go for a break, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I've had worse. Remind me to tell you about the time I lost my powers cause some jerk electrocuted me." That wasn't a fun time, even if riding the gliders was kinda cool, "So..." She clicked her heels against the building wall and looked straight ahead. This place was so... _bright_. Even in the dark of night it was nigh impossible to find a single shadowy corner, "This is what you do everyday?"

"Hm?" Spider-Gwen gave her a sideways glance. Her mask was only pulled up to her nose, masking her eyes from view.

"All this." Mayday gestured to the view in front of them, "This place is..." Weird, crazy, vibrant? In her world there were the Avengers, but this place had the Initiative on top of that. Heck, she just saw a guy with a frog suit fighting the White Rabbit woman from earlier. Apparently he was one of Spider-Gwen's fans.

"A madhouse? That's what Peter calls it, at least." The blonde Spider pulled her mask off and took a deep breath, "Truth be told things weren't so hot. Just a year ago it felt like I was the only one who gave a shit about what happened to this city." Her lips quirked up in a slightly bitter smile, "And of course everyone kept calling me a murderer cause of that shithead Jameson."

"I know him back in my universe. He's...not terrible." He gave her a fair shake, at least.

"Yeah, well, he told everyone I murdered my best friend, so agree to disagree." She finished off the last of her corndog and threw the stick down to the ground. Mayday refrained from making a littering joke, "He's still at it even now. No matter what I do he'll try to find a way to twist it and make me look like this...violent, selfish bitch who doesn't care about anyone."

"Sounds like a mess." Mayday tucked her knees to her chest and continued to look out to the sprawling lights, "Speaking of, what's the story between you and d- Peter? I mean, I saw that billboard..." Mary Jane told her the cliffs notes version, but she still wanted to hear it from Gwen herself.

"That's a whole 'nother can of worms." Gwen sighed, "Peter, he...he wanted to be special. Him and hundreds of other people. Even before the Initiative the thought of having superpowers was just so tempting for some people."

"Yeah. Back home me and my friends were talking once and suddenly everyone was on about what powers they wanted and what they'd do with it. Was pretty awkward when I told them I wanted to be like Wild Thing. That's, uh, Wolverine's daughter. You have a Wolverine here? Short, hairy guy with claws and wears a lotta yellow?"

"Uh, no, but we have a Shadowcat. Close enough, I guess." Gwen shrugged, "Anyway, Peter stole a serum from Doctor Connors and tweaked it. He...Doctor Connors wanted to use the serum to help people who lost limbs. War vets and construction workers who wanted to hug their kids again, you know? And he wanted to use Lizard DNA to get it."

"I've heard this story before..."

"Yeah, well, in my version Pete figured that if it could help people get their body back it could do more. And it did: turned him into a giant Lizard."

"Mary Jane gave me the rundown on what happened," Mayday said softly, "I'm still confused on how he came back. She said whatever gave him his powers brought him back with his memories messed up?"

"You could say that..." Gwen said, "Alright, we gotta go back to the beginning. See there was this Spider-Man - another Peter Parker - from the 1930's Great Depression time who got taken here six years ago. He was taken by this group called S.I.L.K and they...well, let's just say it wasn't pleasant."

"I can imagine."

"Three years ago Peter...died." Gwen took a slow, deep breath, "I...don't want to go back to it, so let's say that at the end of it I was holding his dead body and Jameson figured Spider-Woman was easier to get people to hate than the Lizard who disappeared without a trace. So there was a couple of years of me being hunted down by the police while trying to do the hero thing. Oh, and my dad was leading the task force at the time. Not fun."

"Ouch..." Mayday winced, "If it makes you feel any better you weren't the only one who had it rough. A few months ago I trusted this crime lord Black Tarantula and even Canis and they just used me to try and take out their competition." She still slapped herself sometimes for falling for it. At least Canis ended up in jail...as soon as they found him again.

"Us Spiders have a bad habit, huh?" Gwen smiled wryly, "Anyway, what happened afterwards is kinda complicated. Peter died, the other Spider-Man died, Peter came back and thought he was the other Spider-Man then the other Spider-Man came back...it was just this giant clusterfuck." She cursed a lot, even more than April, which was a feat all on its own.

"Hope you don't mind me saying, but he doesn't seem like someone who'd inject himself with the Lizard serum." And he definitely didn't act like any kind of Spider-Man she saw before.

"He's not really 'my' Peter, but he's not the other Spider-Man either. I...we're not really sure who he is at this point, but we've accepted that. At least he's alive..." That last one was said in a soft whisper and Mayday wondered if Gwen meant for her to hear it, "But really, enough about me. I wanna talk about you. What's it like being a second generation superhero?"

"Honestly? Not as great as you'd think. Dad wasn't a fan at first. I mean I get why, but I was pretty ticked off too considering he started at my age. He still gets overprotective sometimes. Other than that school's been kind of a mess. Had to drop out of the basketball team cause powers was just cheating and I couldn't date cause of the whole double life thing." Not to mention Normie and Franklin decided she was just too young to date. Nevermind the fact that apparently she wasn't too young to put her neck on the line.

"Yeah, it was like that for me too. Things got better after my dad and the rest of my friends found out, but it was pretty touch and go for a while there." Gwen was quiet for a moment with her next words coming out in a whisper, "What are...what's Peter and MJ like? Back in your dimension?"

"It's kinda hard to describe them. I mean, dad's dad and mom's mom." Mayday shrugged helplessly, "Sometimes dad puts on the costume again and it's... _weird_  how all of my friends flock up to him asking for autographs and stories. Dads the guy who trains me and gets on my case about boys. It's kinda hard to reconile that with the guy who helped save the city and the world multiple times, you know?"

"My dad was pretty much a cop 24/7. When I was younger I sometimes resented him for it, but I realized later he was doing his best to raise me with mom gone."

"My mom - Mary Jane - felt more like a friend than a mom sometimes. She was pretty supportive of me putting on the mask, even made up the Spider-Shoppe - that's a costume that sells Spider-Girl merch - for me and Benjy's college fund." She paused, "Never thought I'd see a universe where she ended up becoming a hero."

"A hero..." Gwen looked down, masking her face from view again.

"...What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's just...MJ's done some things and I can't be sure if..."

"If it's the Carnage symbiote?" Gwen gave her a wide-eyed look, "What happened?"

"She...She's been killing people." Mayday's hands balled into shaky fists. It was to be expected considering the monster she was attached to, but that didn't stop the feeling of disgust that rolled over her, "So far she's only gone after people who got off without going to jail. She said she's only going after people who escape what they deserve and that she always gives people a chance, but..."

"God..." The thought of any version of her mom taking a life was just... "So...what are you doing?"

"Trying to teach her that there are other ways. It's been...slow going." Gwen smiled bitterly, "She's not the only one. Peter kills, Cindy kills, even Lana kills. Feels like everyone's telling me I should just accept it and it's part of growing up, but a part of me still can't let go."

"Yeah..." Darkdevil and Kaine were on her case about that too. Maybe they were right, but that didn't mean she was just gonna take it lying down. Desperate to change the subject, Mayday said the first thing she could think of, "...Mary Jane's not the only one with a partner. You have a symbiote too, right?" The way her suit moved around was just a bit too familiar.

To her credit Gwen didn't even seem slightly surprised by the question. The blonde smiled and a small, smooth, snake-like thing jutted out of her shoulder, the dark surface dotted with a pair of white eyes and a little tongue. It looked far less monstrous than Mary Jane's, " **Hello.** " She sounded just like Gwen, though there was a noticeable reverb to her voice.

"Hey." She offered a hand and the 'snake' wrapped herself around it briefly before retreating back to her Other's side, "I've had some experiences with being attached to a symbiote too."

" **I don't sense one on you,** " Venom(?) said.

"No, she...she gave her life up to protect me, dad and Normie from the Hobgoblin." It didn't erase all the terrible things she'd done with Eddie Brock, but Mayday could empathize with her in those last moments, "And like I told Mary Jane, the Carnage symbiote was an enemy of mine too."

"Guess some things never change." Gwen breathed out softly and smiled while the snake nuzzled up against her cheek, "For what it's worth I'm really sorry you got caught up in all this."

"It's not your fault. I should've been more careful. God, Darkdevil and dad are gonna _blow up_  on me when I get back." Mayday pulled off her own mask and brought a hand through her sweat soaked hair. Gwen just stared at her, "What? Something on my face?" She grinned.

"No, it's just...you really do look a lot like MJ." Gwen bit her lower lip, "I know this is super weird and all, but could you tell me what 'your' Gwen was like? Cause I only met one other Gwen and I wasn't really a fan."

"I...can't really say, sorry. She was gone way before my time. It took a lot of prodding for him to fess up on why he was so overprotective of me." Mayday took a deep breath, "It wasn't just because he worried I'd be in danger. It's cause he knew that no matter how hard you tried you'll always lose someone. You can't save everyone, and that hurts more than any pumpkin bomb or laser blast."

"Yeah..." Gwen shook her head, "Okay, I don't wanna talk about super depressing shit anymore so let's just...oh, I know: tell me about your Rogues Gallery. Every hero has one of those, right? Or do you call them something else?"

"No we use the same, though some people try to use Villain Manifestos. Think it sounds more refined." Mayday waved a hand through the air, "As for my villains...you already met Ock and Canis, but there were a few others. This crimelord Black Tarantula who thought he was my, ugh, destined mate. There was Hobgoblin, this murderer for hire called Mr. Nobody..."

She listed off all the people she fought. By the end of it she was almost as surprised as Gwen at how many fingers she was using to count off, "Woah, and I thought I had it bad." Gwen blew a tuft of hair out of her eyes and leaned back, legs swinging lazily, "I recognize some of the names, though. Tombstone, Hobgoblin...did you ever figure out who that one was? I'm still trying to look him up."

"No, sorry. I'm still dealing with him myself. He caused this citywide gang war and we just managed to make it stop when I got the call about Ock and Canis." Along with her barely managing to keep April from murdering the guy. Didn't matter what he did; they had to be better.

"Ah well, I'll get him eventually." Gwen suddenly pulled out phone out from...somewhere and read the message quickly, "Huh, looks like Norah and Gabriel found something."

"What is it?"

"Apparently your Doc Ock didn't waste any time. She's already asking around about where to get the best tech, probably to try and build another portal. According to Norah's source an old woman with 'fucking tentacle hentai shit on her back' raised a black market and interrogated everyone." Mayday almost laughed at the casual crudeness of the blonde Spider. She really wondered if she was similar to her Gwen Stacy.

"I guess she's as desperate as I am to get back." Mayday looked at the time and frowned. Just a little over an hour before her next spasm, "We gotta hurry."

* * *

**BlueSkiesClearMind:**  Spider-Woman is a complete and total asshole and anyone who thinks she's someone to be admired needs to get their head out of their ass.

**980789:**  Oh jeez another one of these? Lemme guess, she didn't give you the autograph you wanted? Didn't show up for your birthday party?

**BlueSkiesClearMind:** I'm not a fucking kid asswipe. I'm just not blind and know that whole 'oh look at me I'm so fucking perfect and super' image is complete bullshit.

**980789:**  Wow...who hurt you as a little boy?

**STALKER:**  Yeah...what  **BlueSkiesClearMind**  really means is that he tried to ask Spider-Woman out to a date and be his girlfriend, she said no, and he's been obsessed ever since.

**980789:**  So another salty fanboy? How surprising /s

**BlueSkiesClearMind:**  So what if I asked her out? I'm still right. What kind of 'superhero' thinks some psycho killer like Spider-Man is better than a perfectly nice guy? An up her own ass bitch, that's who!

**980789:**  And you're the 'nice guy' in this scenario? Yea right. I'm not exactly a fan of Spider-Man either but who she dates is really none of our fucking business.

**BlueSkiesClearMind:**  Yes it is! Frankly I'm getting tired of how much she's hiding from us. She owes it to us to stop hiding behind masks and let us see who she really is. We deserve more from here than half-assed 'heroism'.

**STALKER:**  Dude, you came up to her when she was talking with a kid during a charity event, shoved the kid off and asked her out on a date. What the fuck did you think was gonna happeN? She falls in love with your kid pushing self?

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  Hey asshole, fuck off. She doesn't owe you shit. You got rejected? Boo fucking hoo, world's smallest violin. I got rejected too and you don't see me going on tweeter and making an ass of myself.

**BlueSkiesClearMind:**  Wasn't asking you  _Bombshell_. Go blow up a school or something.

**STALKER:**  Dude stop you're just embarrassing yourself now...

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  No, actually, just let him rant. Really curious how deep he's gonna dig that hole of his.

* * *

They met up with the rest of the group back in what she found out later was Cindy's place. Mayday looked down at the ticking clock and frowned at the numbers counting down. She  _really_  didn't like the idea of going into a fight and getting caught in the middle of an episode, "Took you long enough." Lana looked up from the laptop and slammed it shut, "We doing this or what?"

"I'm still kinda confused on what exactly we're doing," Mary Jane said. Like the others she was in full costume, her abnormally long hair spilling out of the back of her mask. No way that was natural.

"Well according to Norah's sources Ms. Octopus tried to find a cache of tech to try and build something and that she was led to this guy." She showed them the screen of her phone with long, dark hair and glasses, "Doctor Stephanie Gerard, a former member of AIM. Now I don't know what our new resident supervill offered her, but apparently it was enough to get them on her side."

"Ock said she wanted to get tech so she could get an advantage back home. That's probably it," Mayday said.

"So they can't take over here so they're gonna try somewhere else. Why shit on your own bed when you do it on somebody else's right?" Lana snorted, "Whatever they're doing this old bitch is with them and if we wanna get Spider-Girl here back to her own place we're gonna have to take these assholes out."

Mayday looked at each of them in turn - Cindy and Spider-Man reloading pistols, Lana with energy running up her hands and Mary Jane's fingers briefly shifting to claws - and felt her stomach churn, "Hey, let's slow down for a bit here," She said, "Listen, I...I appreciate you all going out of your way to help me, but I don't want anyone to die for my sake. So...if we're doing this then we're doing this right. No killing."

Lana rolled her eyes (rude) while Cindy put both guns back into their holsters and turned to her, "Listen, we'll do our best here, especially since the cops'll want people to interrogate, but these guys are terrorists. If it comes down them or us then it's them. I hope you understand."

Mayday bit her lower lip briefly before nodding, "Alright, just...do your best." This wasn't the first time she'd dealt with this. She abhorred killing but not everyone shared that view. And it wasn't like she didn't get it - police officers, soldiers and many others had to kill. She understood, even if she didn't like it, "So...how are we gonna find out where these guys are camping?"

"That'll be thanks to me, dollface." Mayday (almost) jumped when a nearby chair suddenly swiveled around to reveal-

...

Was that a duck in a suit smoking a cigar?

"What's wrong? Ain't never seen someone with such downy good looks?" The  _talking duck_  took a puff of his cigar and stepped off the chair. The fact that he was maybe 3 feet tall ruined any dramatic sense he was attempting, "Here's what you're lookin' for, Moonie." He put a thick folder on the center table, "Ya got my fee?"

"Yeah, yeah. Can't believe I'm getting price gouged by a duck. And Pete was the one who hired you." Cindy rolled her eyes and handed said duck a folded stack of bills. Mayday easily counted well over a grand and immediately felt guilty, "So, mind giving us the cliffs notes version? We're kinda on a time limit here."

"It's your dosh." The duck shrugged, "Me and Spider-Guy looked over the places where these Exchange mooks get their stuff. Apparently they use some of the bums and janitors to steal some tech and get some cheap labor. Most of em didn't know jack from adam, but one guy figured that he needed insurance so he got some notes on drop offs and listed em down. Figured that if these bozos tried to kill him he could use it as leverage."

"Took some persuading but I managed to get the list off him," Spider-Man said. Gwen gave him a  _look_  and he rolled his eyes, "He's fine. Just had to get a couple of dealers off his back. Everyone's still breathing."

"So where are these places?" Mary Jane asked.

"Me and Spider-Guy got three of em." Howard opened the folder and flipped to a map with three circled spots. Accordin' to our snitch the first two places are buildings he sees people goin in and out. Last one's a bit trickier. Snitch says it's a dead drop and every time he tries to follow the guy he loses him, so that one you'll need to do some legwork on."

"Dibs on the first building with Cin," Lana said. Peter gave her a sideways glance and she rolled her eyes, "What? You really think I'm good at the whole stalking thing? Never my thing. Spider-Gwen and Jane can deal with the second place while you and Spider-May do grab ass. Doubt any of us'll be useful keeping a low profile."

"I resent that implication," Cindy said lightly.

"You know I don't need help. I can do this on my own," Spider-Man said. Mayday tried not to feel offended.

"I've got some experience tailing people, you know." Spider-Man didn't say anything, "I won't be a bother. Trust me."

"That's not..." He sighed, "Fine, let's just do this."

The dead drop was picked up in the afternoon. Mayday looked down at the watch and grimaced. 30 minutes and counting before her next episode; they were cutting it  _really_  close here, "You there?" Spider-Man asked through the earpiece. She looked down over the roof of the building and found him sitting on a nearby bench as the delivery guy - a bearded man in his 40's wearing a heavy coat - passed by.

"Yeah." She pulled the hood of the jacket over her head and jumped to the adjacent rooftop. Spider-Man said it'd be best if they had two points of view. He'd stay at ground level while she stuck to the rooftops.

The fact that it meant she was far away from him didn't miss her attention.

Spider-Man stood up from the bench and and began to discreetly follow their target. Mayday had to admit, it was kinda eerie how easily he blended into the crowds; more than once she'd lost track of him as soon as they rounded a corner or a crowd passed by. The delivery guy was paranoid too, turning to look back every couple of minutes, but he didn't find him either.

"Hey, Spider-Man?"

"What? Something wrong?" She still couldn't see him.

"No, it's just..." She jumped to another building and clung to a nearby wall to hide from view, "Alright, I'll just say it straight out: what's your problem with me?"

"I don't have a-"

"Cut the crap." She flipped to another building and dropped down to the nearby fire escape, "You've been avoiding me ever since I showed up here. Did I do something to tick you off?"

"Is now really the best time for this?"

"Best chance I have right now, I think."

"Stubborn. You're like someone else I know." He sighed, "Listen, it's...it's not that I hate you or anything. Quite frankly I don't know much about you so I can't really say much about you."

"Then what is it?"

"You're a Superhero." She tilted her head and swung up to another rooftop, waiting for him to continue, "I dunno if you've noticed but I'm not as squeaky clean as Gwen and the rest of her Avengers pals. I don't look so good in the daylight, Mayday."

"You seem like a good enough guy. Gwen trusts you."

"Wasn't always like that. We've had our fights..." His voice had turned bitter at the end, "All I'm saying is you probably won't like what you see. Even Gwen doesn't a lot of the time. I'm trying to change, but it's slow going. So just...I don't want to get into any more arguments. I'm done fighting and I'd rather you didn't leave here seeing a version of your dad acting like me."

"Wow, um...dunno what to say to that." Guy was slowing down. They were close, "Look, this isn't the first time I've had to deal with disagreements. Remind me to tell you about Darkdevil sometime. Let's just promise to be cool till we finish this. Deal?"

"Deal."

The timer clicked down to 17 minutes by the time the guy went into an alley, knocked on the door and whispered something she couldn't make out. Mayday crouched the edge of the building and narrowed her eyes as he disappeared down a staircase. Now she just had to-

"Ready?"

"Jeez!" Mayday spun around and glared at Spider-Man, a hand on her chest. He was already wearing his mask, "What the- when did you-"

"Sorry for surprising you." He didn't  _sound_  sorry, "We're probably gonna have to go in swinging. Ready for a fight?"

"Sure." She let out a quick breath as she shucked off the jacket to expose her costume underneath. She put on her own mask and swung down to the alley, cause damn it if she was gonna get surprised again. She waited till Spider-Man was next to her when she asked, "So...how we gonna get in there? Find a secret passage? Sneak in through the roof?"

"Thought we'd just knock." And then he went up to the door and banged on it. Mayday stood stick still as the slit opened and a pair of eyes peeked through, "Joe sent me."

The slit slammed shut.

"Always worked in the movies." Before she could marvel at the fact that he actually made a joke he jumped, grabbed the door frame and kicked the door hard enough to make it fall down into the two gunmen behind it. Mayday sprung into action immediately and shot a line of webbing to the next gunman running up the stairs. She tugged him towards her quickly and hit his head with a flip kick, knocking him to the ground unconscious.

"A little warning would've been nice!" Mayday screamed as they rushed down the steps.

"Here's one: jump."

Her spider-sense blared and she jumped up to the stairway's ceiling just before two more gunmen shot up where the two of them were just standing. Mayday looked around frantically and found no trace of Spider-Man anywhere, "You better be alive, Spider-Man!" She dodged the next barrage of gunfire till it suddenly stopped. Looking up (down?) she found the guns yanked away from the goons before they were slammed painfully against the ground.

Spider-Man reappeared in a wisp of smoke, "Come on."

"...That's new."

"Spider-Woman can eat bullets, I can turn invisible. We all have our quirks." Now she felt bad her webshooters were busted. Would've been nice to have some of her gadgets right now.

She and Spider-Man fought their way through the cramped, winding halls. Mayday wasn't much a fan of closed spaces. Agility and speed weren't much useful when the hallways were cramp enough that it was night impossible to jump out of the way of bullets.

Spider-Man was the opposite. He seemed to have no trouble fighting and the  _way_  he fought...the Darkdevil comparison became way more appropriate the more she saw. Broken bones, heads smashed against walls hard enough to dislodge teeth...Mayday cringed with every hit and tried not to feel too guilty. At least they were alive and the injuries weren't fatal.

Mayday knocked out the last gunman and webbed him to the wall, "That's all of them." She turned and watched as Spider-Man slammed his fist against his own opponent and left the guy groaning on the floor. He fought differently than her dad. Just as agile and even quicker, but his hits were strong and had little flair or finesse in favor of painful blows that left people wheezing on the floor.

She was used to violence. Much as she didn't like to think about it, she knew that she hurt people. Still, there was something different with how sh and her friends did it. Always with a joke, with a quip, with offers to go easy if they just gave up. Spider-Man and Darkdevil were different. More raw, anger in their blows without any hint of hesitation for the damage that could be left.

Spider-Man walked to the end of the hall and opened the door slowly. The room that greeted them on the other side was wider and filled with numerous tables. Mayday walked to the closest one and whistled, "Look at this thing." She picked up the sleek firearm and twisted it to and fro. Guns weren't her thing, but she could be impressed by the make of something.

"Arms and tech dealers. Usually those are small enough to ignore, but when they get smart they can do a whole lot more damage." He sounded like he spoke from experience, "...What was I...your dad like?"

"Strict. Like, super. When he found out I put on the mask he was livid. Goes on about how I'm too young, how it's  _totally_  different when he did it at my age and all that parental crap. If it wasn't for Uncle Urich I probably never would've gotten anywhere." And even that was just cause he misunderstood and thought dad wanted a teacher for her. That and Uncle Urich missed the hero life.

"Urich..."

"You know him?"

"Not exactly." Mayday didn't say anything and just watched him go to another table and pick up a wrapped, brown package. Same one their delivery guy - who ran off while they were fighting the gunmen - got. They didn't bother chasing after him. Spider-Man opened the package and dumped the contents on the table, "Can't tell what this is, but looks like high tech. You recognize it?"

"No, sorry. Dad only taught me to fix up my webshooters." If they could reverse engineer the one Gwen loaned her then she could kiss her web fluid problems goodbye, "Maybe it's to make her own portal?"

"Probably, but it's only been a couple of days. It'd take way more than that to make portals if she was doing it piecemeal like this..." He frowned, "That is unless she told her new friends how to make one. How many heroes you got in your place?"

"Oh trust me, I'm not worried about home. The Avengers'll deal with any dimensional conquerors."

"You got Avengers back in your place too? Here's hoping they got a better foundation than the ones here."

"What do you mean by that?"

He didn't answer. Spider-Man's head snapped to the entrance and he growled softly, "Your 'friends' are coming." She nodded and jumped to the roof while he turned invisible. They needed to take them down quickly. If they escaped again then Mayday couldn't be sure when they'd find them again and she didn't want to test how much longer she could go with her episodes. They were already getting worse.

Ock and Canis strode in like they owned the place. Ock still wore her signature green jumpsuit while Canis had finally gotten a gray, pinstriped suit to replace his ratty clothes. Their stances were guarded and Canis sniffed the air warily, "Why are we here, Carolyn? You saw those men, they've been-"

"Taken down, likely by Spider-Girl. But of course we need that component." Mayday's eyes narrowed, "She's rather persistent like that. In fact, I believe she's watching us right..."

Spider-sense.

"Now."

Mayday jumped away from the wall just in time to avoid the upper right tentacle suddenly lashing out to her position. She almost forgot how deceptively long those things could be, "Nice to see you too, Ock!" She dodged the next hit and webbed Canis in the face mid-charge, "Sorry to drop in like this. Needed to have a bit of a chat, you know how it is."

"Scrambling in fear of your inevitable demise, hm?" Ugh. Seriously, who talked like that?

Canis stood up and ripped the web from his face, teeth bared in an ugly snarl. Mayday prepared to jump over him again when Spider-Man suddenly appeared and punched him in the neck, "Rrgh, you damn-" Canis' no doubt epic comeback was cut off when Spider-Man elbowed him across the face hard enough to break his nose before disappearing again.

"You have help? Of course. You insects all stick together." Ock sneered. Mayday refrained from making the obvious 'arachnids not insects' joke, "Fine then. I don't mind crushing two bugs."

"Could we cut the chatter a bit? Kinda in a rush here." Mayday swung towards the old woman and aimed a kick at her face. Ock blocked her hit with two legs while a third snaked behind her back and grabbed her left arm. Mayday pried it off in a rush and was caught flat-footed when another tentacle slammed her against the wall by her stomach.

"Slipping, hm?"

"Nope, just taking a breather." With a soft groan, Mayday pried the claws apart and zipped up to the roof. The red-clad Spider crawled along the rough surface quickly as Ock tried to strike her. Just barely she saw Spider-Man still fighting with Canis down below. The black-clad spider ran up the wall, flipped and kicked the wolfman straight across the jaw before slamming him against the ground.

"Hold still!"

Mayday dodged the next strike and webbed the tentacle's tip against the roof. Ock immediately tried to stab her with another and Mayday waited till it pierced the concrete before doing the same thing again. Just a little more and-

This time she barely got any warning before the next episode hit. Mayday screamed and fell to the ground as she spasmed through the air, limbs flailing helplessly. She'd barely landed on the cold concrete face first before Ock grabbed her right leg in a painful grip and slammed her against the wall, "What's wrong? Didn't come up with a countermeasure like we did?" Another slam, this time to the back of her head. Mayday tasted blood.

She raised her hands and feebly tried to web Ock in the face. The biocable missed by a few inches and she could only scream as she was slammed against the wall again, one tentacle pressed against her stomach while the two recently freed appendages crushed her wrists. Mayday struggled weakly and looked through bleary eyes as Ock drew closer with a demented smile.

"Hmph, didn't put up as much a fight as I thought." The last remaining tentacle shifted into a blade and drew closer to her, dancing inches away from her eye, "You know how much time you cost me? Well, no matter. Finishing you here is more than worth the time spent." She struggled against the vice grip and looked around desperately for help. Canis, with most of his upper body covered in dark silk, had Spider-Man and was choking him against the ground while the other Spider fumbled for something in his pocket.

And then he pulled out a knife and cut Canis' throat.

Peter threw the knife at her right shoulder. Ock cried out in pain and Mayday gave one last desperate kick and hit the tentacled supervillain square in the gut. Ock stumbled back and Mayday jumped, grabbed the woman's shoulders and hit her with a powerful headbutt. The impact coated her mask with blood but Mayday didn't care. She kicked her four more times then slammed her against the ground hard enough to knock the Supervillain unconscious.

Her new webshooters were busted, but she had enough to coat her in a thick blanket. Mayday panted and tried to ignore the taste of copper on her tongue, "Canis..." She turned her back on the unconscious villain and rushed to Canis' side. The wolfman was lying flat on his back with Spider-Man sitting nearby, trying to catch his breath. The blood was still gushing out.

"Hold on..." Mayday covered the wound with the last of her webbing and pressed hard against it, "Come on, stay with me..." Se wasn't going to let him die, damn it. That wasn't what heroes did.

"Spider-Girl-"

"Help me!" She screamed. Mayday saw the scowl even through his mask but eventually he knelt by her side and put a hand on Canis' throat. A dull yellow light covered the furry skin before the bleeding slowly stopped.

"There, should keep him alive for now." Spider-Man stood and Mayday sat back with a slow breath. The teenager looked down at her hands and tried to ignore the feeling of blood between her fingers.

"...Why did you do that? You had webs, you could have-"

"That psychopath was going to kill you." Spider-Man shot back, "Whatever that bastard had for skin the paralytic in my webbing wasn't working fast enough. It was you or him." He let out a soft sigh and turned back to her, "Judge me later. Least you're still alive for it."

Mayday didn't say anything. She couldn't find the words.

* * *

"Home sweet home..."

Mayday looked up at the two story house in a mixture of relief and trepidation. After capturing Ock and Canis they agreed to go back once their countermeasures - little devices Ock had made - were taken away. Past that it wasn't too difficult. They just had to borrow a portal from Cindy's friends, input the coordinates (apparently her dimension was Earth-982) and she was back where she belonged.

Plus a few tag-alongs.

She looked back to Spider-Man, Gwen and Mary Jane. Lana had volunteered to take Canis and Ock back to prison while Cindy said she'd 'check to see if there was a bunker here too', whatever that meant. That left the remaining three to escort her home, both because they were worried and because, honestly, they were curious on what alternate dimension thems were like.

"What's wrong?" Mary Jane asked next to her. They all decided to forgo costumes, which really only added to the weirdness again of seeing a younger version of her mom wearing a red tanktop and jeans.

"It's been a couple of days. Pretty sure they're gonna yell at me." Either right before or right after hugging her. Depended on their mood. Sighing, the teenage Spider mustered up her nerves and opened the door with her spare key.

The living room was packed. Dad, mom holding Benjy, April and even Darkdevil wearing a suit instead of a costume. Mayday had barely taken one step inside before April's head snapped up and the gamut of emotions from worry to relief to annoyance flashed through her face, "Gee, look who's here." The others looked and all froze, "Have a fun time going MIA, sis?"

"Her dad hobbled towards her and took her in a bonecrushing embrace, "Mayday, you're alright..." Great. Hug first, lecture later. She could deal with that. The hug lasted for a few more seconds before they reluctantly separated, "Where have you been? We've all been searching and-"

"I know, dad. I-" Her mom hugged her too, one hand wrapped gently while the other held onto Benjy. The baby smiled and reached for her, "A-Actually, it's kind of a long story so..." She gestured to her new friends near the door. Darkdevil raised a brow while her mom, dad and April looked so shocked she worried her mom would drop Benjy.

Explaining took almost an hour, though it was less confusing that she thought it'd be in hindsight. Apparently her mom and dad were used to the whole alternate dimensions thing cause of Doctor Strange.

Of course, she didn't miss the way their eyes lingered on Gwen. Alternate dimension counterparts were weird, but seeing a dead best friend/ex-girlfriend and finding out she was a superhero in another dimension was a whole 'nother thing entirely. The blonde awkwardly squirmed in her seat and scooted closer to Spider-Man every now and then.

"So the takeaway from this is that you should've listened to me and waited for help," Dark devil said.

"Yep, that's the lesson here." Mayday rolled her eyes. Of course he'd see it that way.

"So you go fight a couple of D-listers and end up going on a cross-dimension field trip. Why do you get to have all the fun?" April snarked.

"It wasn't exactly fun and games..." Spider-Man said.

"Yeah, yeah. I already get enough shit from Uncle Pete, don't need one from his leather jacket teenage version." April waved a hand through the air lazily, "Speaking of, you're really not dating Aunt MJ? What's up with that?"

"W-We're not here to discuss our lovelives." Gwen said, "We just came here to make sure Mayday got back home safe. We figured it was our responsibility." Mom and dad still kept looking at her, "Uh...what's up? Something on my face?"

"N-No, it's just..." Her mom took a deep breath, "We're sorry. I know you're not her, but you were about the same age when our Gwen..."

"Y-Yeah, Mayday told me." Gwen frowned, "Sorry for making this awkward. Trust me, I know what that feels like." She looked to Peter and held his hand, "We just wanted to make sure Mayday was okay. We'll get out of your hair."

"No, it's alright. In fact why don't you stay over for lunch? It's the least we could do for all you've done."

They all (reluctantly) agreed. Mayday tried to ignore the awkwardness that hung in the air and looked around the table. Her mom and dad had finally gotten used to Gwen's presence, but now Mary Jane was the one staring. It was like looking at night and day between the two. Same shade of red hair and the same face sans a few wrinkles, but her mom was the opposite of the rocker singer she'd gotten to know the past few days.

"So you're a singer in a band?" her mom asked Mary Jane. She was doing remarkably well not being weirded out seeing an almost-teenage version of herself.

"Uh...yeah. We don't go on many concerts now. Work keeps me busy, you know?"

"Truth be told we didn't go on a lot of concerts even before that," Gwen said, "I kept missing practice cause of the whole Spider-Woman thing and when Peter came back it as all a giant clusterfuck. And then MJ got...powers." From the Carnage symbiote. Mayday still felt sick thinking about it.

"Oh? You're a hero?" Her mom asked.

"Ah...kinda? I'm...I call myself Scarlet Spider." Her dad paused mid-bite briefly, "I'm not really used to the whole superhero thing. Hell, I'm not even part of the Initiative."

"That still sounds fucking weird to me. People actually sign up to be government toadies?" April asked.

"April..." Mayday sighed.

"You remind me of someone I know," Spider-Man said.

Lunch finished soon after and Mayday said her goodbyes. She could go back if she wanted - apparently their world was Earth-65 - but she couldn't help but feel sad. She'd miss Gwen and Mary Jane, and Spider-Man...well, his heart was in the right place. She smiled till they were out of sight then made her way up to her room and collapsed on the bed.

Peter pulled out his mask as soon as they were far enough, "That was weird..." They were meeting up with Cindy and Lana close where they first showed up. He put on the mask while Gwen and Mary shifted back to their costumes.

"Tell me about it," Gwen said.

"Least I know I'm hot enough to pull off a tracksuit," Mary joked.

They climbed up to the rooftop rendezvous and found Lana and Cindy already waiting for them, "Took ya long enough," Lana said.

"Sorry. Any luck with your bunker search, Cin?" Peter asked.

"Kinda. Found the place but it was empty, so I'm guessing Earth-982 Me decided to take her chances out in the big bad world here. Let's just hope she didn't become a Supervillain cause that's Mayday's problem." He was with her there.

"You got the way back?" Mary asked.

"Sure. Come on, let's bunch up. Tether's only got one shot."

The way back was just as disorienting as before. Peter took a deep breath and shut his eyes as the feeling of weightlessness washed over him. When he opened his eyes again he was more than a little put off when he saw that they were in Times Square with people staring at them instead of the expected Shield facility. Whatever, he was just glad to be back home-

"Uh, guys, I think we have a problem." Cindy raised the device, which was sparking in a not-so-soothing way, "I think we might've used it too quick. We're...not in the right place?"

"What? Then were the fuck are we?" Lana groaned.

As if on cue a red and blue figure swung down close to where they were. Peter immediately took a step back and leveled his gun at the new arrival, "Woah, hold on! I'm a friend!" His voice was cheery...and all too familiar.

It was his voice, after all.

"Saw you guys just drop in here and figured I should welcome you to the neighborhood." His costume looked close to the one Mayday wore. Peter suddenly had a bad feeling about the entire thing.

"Uh...who the heck are you?" Gwen asked.

"Me? People call me a lotta names, some of em not so nice, but you can call me your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Nice to meet you."

Peter turned his gaze back to the machine's screen and saw the number 616, and  _not_ 65, across the surface. Sometimes he hated his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parker/Stacy/Moon/Baumgartner/Watson luck strikes again. I was debating on whether they would end up on Earth-616 or Earth-8 (world where Miles and Gwen got married and made a utopia New York) by the end but decided on the former cause it seemed more recognizable.
> 
> Before anyone worries, I'm not planning to make this a thing. The ending was just a joke and we'll be back on plot by the next chapter. I'm sure some people would want a 616 omake so maybe I'll make one, but it's doubtful since I don't have a good grasp on the characters there.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Some people expressed interest on Noir having both tech upgrades and the Spider Trigger. Would you guys really like that? Seems a bit too powerful considering Noir's enemy scale and him lacking some of Gwen's deficiencies to compensate as weaknesses.
> 
> 2\. Who'd you guys prefer to take the lead when fighting Bullseye: Peter or Matt? The former has drama about past friendships while the latter focuses on irony and how twisted their rivalry is due to their last fight. Leaning towards Matt so far but curious on thoughts.
> 
> 3\. More of a curiosity, but does no one mind the age gap between Matt and MJ? Mary Jane is 21 while Matt is 34, a 13 year age difference. Considering how people got testy over pairing Noir with Lana or Cindy I'm surprised this hasn't come up.


	22. Back to Business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Sorry this took a while it's been getting busier for me and finding the motivation to write has become a bit harder. Maybe the next chapter will come easier, maybe not. Licensure exam reviews, thesis proposals and gaining requirements for everything are a bitch.
> 
> Speaking of those those who are reading Two Spiders on a Web. No I didn't abandon it but please be patient. Unlike Looking Glass I never expected it to run so long so I need to plan out the plot more. That and I'm not as good at writing lighthearted stuff so it's definitely not gonna be fast.

**BoneDaddy:** Alright poll time!  **Avengers**  or  **Defenders** , who do you prefer?! Go!

**Reply from Ps1000:**  Is this really fair? The Defenders broke up a year ago and the new one only has two returning members.

**Reply from BoneDaddy:**  Why not? They still made an impact. I'm a Defenders man myself. Their costumes are BOSS.

**Reply from TheEnvironmentalistAgenda:**  Avengers most def. I prefer heroes who save people vs just killing bad guys.

**Reply from 25000:** I dunno, I think there's something appealing about the Defenders doing what they do even after they got branded as fugitives. It's like **Spider-Woman**  being a hero before she got proven innocent.

**Reply from BoneDaddy:**  Plus they feel more relatable. I mean every one of the Avengers have product deals and probably live in penthouses.

**Reply from Ps1000:**  No offense but you gotta be really fucked up if you think  **Punisher** is more relatable than anyone in the Avengers. Also, the penthouse thing is clearly not true.  **Hawkeye**  works as a PI and owns an apartment over in Hell's Kitchen on her non-hero time.

**Reply from BoneDaddy:**  Hawkeye's the exception, not the rule. All I'm saying is I can see the appeal of the Defenders more.

**Reply from EPFrog:**  I dunno, I think the  **Protectors**  were good even if their run was short...

**Reply from StrikerNotBombshell:**  Self-promotion's never flattering, frog boy.

**Reply from HahaHoho:**  Avengers most definitely. I mean, have you  _seen_  how tight their costumes are? Definitely got some NSFW pictures :P

**Reply from Spinerette:** Didn't Spider-Woman ban you? How are you back?

* * *

"Listen, Pete, I gotta go. Good luck with the house arrest."

"Wait, Cin, don't-"

Cindy ended the call before Peter could make his impassioned plea and sighed. It wasn't like she didn't get why he was antsy, but she was kinda busy with her own thing too. Case in point: the absolute boatload of cases (heh) piled on her desk, "Ugh..." She started stacking them into three piles: Deal with ASAP, double check later, and toss in trash when Captain Watanabe wasn't looking.

It was depressing just how big the latter pile was compared to the first two.

The time on her watch said it was close to evening. Cindy sighed and reminded herself that she was doing this for the greater good and that it was better than dodging tank fire or swinging across alien ships.

Oh, who was she kidding? She'd take another Skrull invasion over this.

Another soft beep from her phone notified her that she got another right swipe. Cindy sighed again and idly looked through her list of 'admirers'. Ever since she outed her identity getting a date was far easier - being a member of the Avengers and, not to too her own horn or anything, hot to boot really gave you a leg up once people realized you were single and looking for dates.

Unfortunately it was definitely quantity over quality. Before got a bunch of hits and it'd only take her a few minutes - half an hour at most - to sift through anyone she thought would be a decent date. Now she had spend over an hour swiping left because 90% of the people who swiped her weren't even close to having any similar interests; just people who wanted to say they dated Spinerette.

There were also a bunch of women too despite her profile quite clearly saying she was straight.

Cindy ignored the pop-up message and logged out. That was another thing she had to deal with now: persistent messages. Before when she unmatched from people they just shrugged and moved on; other fish in the sea and all that. Now there was a 50/50 shot she'd got bombarded with texts saying that they should 'give them a chance' or that 'they weren't a hero but they still wanted to give it a shot'. One guy even tried the true and tested 'be a sexist douche' approach, cause apparently threatening the woman with super strength was a good idea.

The door to her office opened and she gave a forced smile when Jean walked in, "What's up? I'm kinda busy here." Cindy gestured to the pile. No more missing persons cases so far, but there'd been some rumblings about another Lantern gang. She tried to keep it on the downlow when she was around Pete. He'd be useful without a doubt, but the last thing she needed was Spider-Man going on a rampage.

Or Gwen going apeshit that her boyfriend was involved with pumpkinhead. Again.

"You have a visitor."

"If it's Feli then tell her she still owes me and I'm not paying for car repairs, and if it's another guy who thinks going to my work with flowers to 'surprise me' tell him I'm not interested and to unmatch." Wouldn't have been the first time. At first it was flattering, but now even Masters felt sorry for her.  _Masters_. That was just depressing on a whole 'nother level.

"It's not a guy-"

"Please tell any prospecting Flint matchups that I'm straight and not interested in women."

"Would you let me finish?" Jean said, annoyed, "As I was saying, a little girl's outside looking for you."

"Little girl..." She only knew one little girl who'd visit her here. Cindy dropped her pen and rushed past Jean only to find, sure enough, Laura standing proud as a peacock near the entrance. The little girl rocked on the balls of her feet and played with the straps of her backpack, completely ignoring the officers and other milling people around her. Most of them only spared her a quick glance before returning to what they were doing.

"Laura!" Cindy grabbed her hand and dragged her to her office before she could say anything. Jean was still there, arms crossed and a brow raised. Cindy completely ignored her and shut the door, "What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed.

Laura rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a small stack of papers, "My grades got better."

Brows furrowed, Cindy took the offered papers and scanned through it quickly. Math, Science, English...all her subjects with C pluses and B minuses. It was above average at best, but still an improvement from before, "Um...okay? I'm proud of you, kiddo?" Cindy ruffled her hair. It wasn't a lie, but she was still pretty damn confused why she came here just to say that.

Laura nodded and looked up at her expectantly. The silence lasted for a few more seconds till she eventually said, "I want my dog now."

"What?  _Now_? It's late." Half an hour past six in the evening, according to her watch, "And how did you even get here?"

"Shadowcat drove. She's outside." And she didn't bother to come inside with them. No surprise there: Kitty didn't have the best relationship with the cops considering her line of work. Jean gave her a look of 'what kind of friends do you have' and Cindy just shrugged. It was an opens secret that despite being Spider-Cop not all of her friends were on the straight and narrow.

"Still..." Cindy sighed. She knew from experience that Laura wouldn't let it go, but she didn't exactly have time to blow off work.

"Shadowcat said she also had to talk to you. Something about a fuzzy friend?"

Well...that changed things, "I gotta go," she said to Jean. The older woman opened her mouth to protest and she cut her off, "It's about a case, trust me. Tell Captain Watanabe I'll be back with a couple of leads tomorrow."

Laura tugged on her hand and dragged her out of the building. A few of her coworkers smiled and even took pictures, which she just knew were going up on tweeter later. Cindy didn't get a chance to stop and tell them off, "Come on, come on!" Laura shouted excitedly.

Shadowcat looked up from the window of the van (seriously?) and wiggled her fingers, a cocky smile on her face, "...Nice car," Cindy said flatly.

"Ah shut up. We're getting her dogs and I ain't gonna have have little furballs shitting all over my convertible."

"Wait, dog _s_  plural? Last I checked I said one dog." Cindy gave Laura a pointed look.

"I got better grades on all my subjects." Laura said, smug in the way only a little kid could be, "You agreed to give me a puppy if I improved Math. Since I improved more I get more than one puppy."

"Well, that logic is foolproof," Cindy snarked.

"Don't whine, I'll pay for the other one," Shadowcat said, "Now come on, let's go look for a pet store around here."

"I actually know a place. Lana told me about it." Cindy took her seat on the other side of the vehicle and shut the door, "Come on, I'll point it out."

The place they arrived at ended up being a shelter. Shadowcat gave her a doubtful look while Cindy just shrugged and walked inside. According to Lana she had an old friend friend who worked here, a teenage girl by the name of Sophia 'Chat' Sanduval, who was really good with animals. On the bright side they'd even get a discount and some free kibble

Besides, she figured Laura'd prefer rescue animals to something from a regular pet store.

"Welcome to the Animal Estates!" The teenage girl at the front desk greeted cheerfully. She was young, easily a decade Cindy's junior, with a nametag that had 'Chat' written in big, red letters.

"Hey. Um...are you Lana's friend?"

The teenager blinked then smiled, "Oh, you must be Ms. Cindy! Yes, Lana told me about you. I didn't expect you to come today, though."

"Yeah, well, this little munchkin insisted." She ruffled Laura's hair again while the girl in question puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. Height jokes were the easiest way to set her off, "Anyway, we were hoping we could get a couple of dogs?"

"Sure! All of the dogs are out in the playroom by now. Do you want to-"

"I want to meet them all," Laura said, practically bouncing in excitement.

"Go ahead. Me and Kitty'll stay here, we've got some business to talk about. Just make sure you don't get a pug!" Norah's doggo wouldn't like the competition. Cindy waved them off and watched briefly as Laura dutifully followed the teenager to the other room. She smiled. It was nice, seeing Laura so happy. Almost made her forget about the claws and the growling and body count.

Shadowcat waited till they were alone, "Just the two of us now." The younger girl's grin was way too gleeful. It was the same one she used whenever she knew there was gonna be a bodycount, which was never a good sign.

"Seems so." Cindy crossed her arms, "Where's Kurt?"

"Scouting a place out." She pulled out her phone and Cindy's own cell buzzed, "Sent you a map. Fuzzball thinks he can find a lead on those friends of his." That was the reason he came to her all those days ago. He and his friends came here to New York for a fresh start - easy thought considering it was Superhero (and villain) central. If a guy with blue fuzz and a tail could start off new anywhere it would've been New York.

Or at least that was the thought. They barely lasted a month before two of them got picked off without a trace. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was probably the same person who was kidnapping every other Powered person around.

"Now? He said he'd keep a low profile till I found something."

"You know his type. Gets a whiff that his friends are in trouble and he comes in running." Despite the insulting tone there was a small smile on the Mercenary's face, "Anyway, we'll get munchkin her new toys then drop her off."

"You really wanna leave her alone with two new pets?"

"Don't worry, she won't be alone-"

Cindy didn't get a chance to ask what that meant before the door behind them opened. The increasingly exasperated hero turned around and froze when she saw Albert with his parents right behind him, "Come on, boy." He tugged the leash at his side to pull along the mid-sized golden retriever.

The three of them stopped when they caught sight of her. Cindy tried to say something but Albert talked first, "Hey Cin...didn't expect to see you here. Getting a pet?"

"We-"

"Oh, who's this, Cin?" Shadowcat suddenly grabbed her right arm with both hands and pressed it against her chest. The older woman glared down at the teenager and she just stared up with that look on her fac. The 'I'm gonna fuck your life so hard and laugh about it' look, "Oh, this is is your family, right? So nice to finally meet them! You told them about us, right?"

"Us? Wait..." Nari looked between the two of them and gasped softly, "Are you two-"

"Whatever you're thinking, it's not-"

"Of course." Shadowcat's grin was almost manic now. She looked like the freaking Joker, "We were getting a pet for our kid. A little reward considering she did so well in school."

"That's not-"

"Oh, we didn't know you were dating." Why did Sr. have that 'I hope you're happy smile'? He shouldn't have that smile! "Well, don't let us get in your way. You two kids have fun."

"Will do, pops!" Shadowcat winked.

"Alright, that's enough!" Cindy wrenched her arms from the teen's hand, "We're just here to-"

The door to the back slammed open and Laura charged out, "Mom, I have them!" The little girl held up a furry - seriously, little thing looked like a sentient dustball - pomerenian pup while a pure white Japanese Spitz trotted alongside her happily. It didn't take Cindy long to see that the pomerenian's right back leg was broken, "I want these two. We can have them, right?"

"I-"

"Of course, munchkin. Mama Cindy'll give you anything you want, right?" Shadowcat threw her an all too smug smile. Cindy seriously wanted to pull out her gun and shoot her in the face, "Come on, let's go buy you your new friends."

Shadowcat went with Laura to the counter, leaving her with her (not) family in awkward silence. Cindy pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "I'm not actually with her, if you haven't caught on," she said.

"And the kid?" Albert asked.

"Long story. The two of them are sisters - kinda - and I've been looking after Laura while Kitty's out of town on work. She started calling me mom."

"I...think you skipped a few steps there," Sr. said, "Well, it's your business. Just know that we won't judge you-"

"I'm not sleeping with her!" Cindy snapped, causing the cashier to jump up slightly. She took long, deep breath, "I'm sorry, but I'm just getting tired of people thinking I swing both ways just cause Spider-Woman does. Me and Kitty are friends, sorta, and she was just fucking with you. She does that all the time; it's how she gets her jollies."

"That little girl seems familiar," Nari said.

"Best not think about it too much." Shadowcat didn't have an actual secret identity and there were videos of her and Laura caught during their fight with her evil twin. The only reason they didn't draw too much attention was cause Kitty didn't really  _do_  the superhero thing (though she did do the occasional vigilante outing during jobs) and Laura promised she'd keep a low profile in school.

She said her goodbyes to her (not) family and went back to Shadowcat's van. Laura took up the backseat with her two new pets. Cindy looked up to the rear view mirror and smiled when she caught the little girl petting the crippled pomerenian while the spritz nuzzled her side. She never had pets when she was younger and Ezekiel's suggestion to bring one with her to the bunker was vetoed. She didn't want to put anyone else through what she did.

They stopped at the house and Laura's head immediately snapped up, "...He's here." Her eyes were wide and, without any warning, she practically crashed through the van's right door and rushed to the house, the spritz chasing after her.

"...What the heck was that about?"

"My surprise for her."

Cindy opened the door and found Laura yelling happily as she hugged a (barely keeping himself balanced) Spider-Man. Despite the mountain of size difference between them the tank-like Spider found himself unable to move as Laura pressed her face against his chest and and her arms tightly bolted around his sides. It was both cute and kinda vomit-inducing.

The spritz, seeing its new owner was preoccupied, immediately jumped to the other two children on the couch, "Doggie!" The little boy shouted happily with his sister quickly joining in. She knew them, kinda. Spider-Man's kids with his world's Black Cat. She didn't actually see them since since she didn't come along, but Pete and Gwen told her enough details for her to guess.

Shadowcat walked next to her with a small smile, "Figured I owed her a reward for being a good little munchkin. And cause I haven't been around much."

"And I'm sure you getting your boyfriend back for a bit doesn't hurt." Shadowcat smirked back at her, "Isn't he supposed to be dealing with World War II?"

"He is. Already killed Hitler and a few other big names and dismantled a bunch of concentration camps so he's just waiting for a bit for someone or something else to hit. Apparently he's working with his world's Captain America now." Yeah, she figured that'd happen, "Apparently he's trying to get intel about some Johan Schmidt asshole."

"Red Skull?"

"I guess."

Shaking her head, Cindy walked inside and found herself sharing Laura's infectious smile, "Looks like today's your lucky day, kiddo." She ruffled her hair and turned to Spider-Man, "Look out for her for a bit, yeah? Me and Shadowcat gotta do something."

"Sure. Take care of her, alright?" He looked to Shadowcat.

"Yeah, I think she'll be fine. I'm more worried about anyone else we'll run into," Cindy said.

"Sure...hey, how's Parker doing?"

"Laying low. Gwen wants him out of sight and out of mind after he got put into a fucked up Saw game." That got her a questioning look, "Long story. Point is he's keeping a low profile, so if you wanna do the awkward brotherly hang out thing you gotta go visit Gwen's house. She's keeping him under house arrest.

"Ha, whipped." Shadowcat snorted behind her.

" _Any_ way, we'll get out of your hair. Have fun you two."

She kissed the top of Laura's head and joined Shadowcat in her car. She sent a quick text to Lana (Felicia was doing something, apparently) and started fiddling with her guns, "Never get why you use those," Shadowcat said lightly, "I mean you're strong like Spider-Girly and you can cling to walls and dodge bullets. What's the point of using guns?"

Cindy shrugged. Why didn't Gwen just web everyone down instead of using those fancy punches and kicks? Why didn't Peter turn invisible all the time and just avoid fighting altogether? They probably didn't think about it and neither did she. S.H.I.E.L.D trained her like she was an agent and that included guns. Besides, she had I.C.E.R rounds and she could just as easily kill with her fists as well as bullets.

Lana was already there by the time they arrived, "Yo." She waved casually and stepped off the wall, ignoring the occasional people who tried to take pictures. She was still dressed in her school uniform, though she'd wisely decided to switch out her loafers for a pair of worn sneakers.

"What's with the getup?" Cindy asked.

"Costume's in the wash and you didn't really give me a lot of warning." She eyed Shadowcat, "I saw you back in Maggie's church. Darkcat, right?"

" _Shadow_ cat. Darkcat makes me sound like a fucking cartoon villain." Cindy refrained from commenting that Shadowcat wasn't much better, "We should probably get this out of the way first: I kill people and I don't spend days whining about it afterwards. If that's not cool with you then tough."

"Not gonna hear me complaining. If these assholes are anything like the ones who took Aracely they have it fucking coming." Was it hypocritical for her to be worried about how easy Lana took to killing? "Speaking of, we doing this or what?"

"Yeah. Shouldn't be too far now." The map said it was just a few blocks away. Cindy grabbed Shadowcat for a swing-along while Lana rushed forward in a burst of light after her. Her new powers definitely made Cindy feel far less awkward about bringing her along for team-ups. Now she didn't have to worry that every gunshot could end with the younger girl taking a bullet to the face and then having to explain to Peter that his little sister was dead.

The building was mid-sized and nondescript. Cindy landed on the roof with Lana running up the walls immediately after, "Least it ain't another fucking warehouse." The teenager muttered. Cindy silently agreed - seriously, couldn't the bad guys be at least a little more creative? - and made her way to the rooftop vent. According to Kurt's pictures this was the place.

The vent had opened by just an inch when her spin-sense screamed, "MOVE-" The words were just barely out of her mouth when the explosion hit. Cindy shut her eyes and was flung to the closest wall, heat and flames all around her. The impact across her back knocked the wind out of her and she could only thank whatever luck she had left that she didn't get any shrapnel through the face.

She blacked out for just a few seconds. When Cindy opened her eyes again she saw Shadowcat;s unconscious body lying a few feet away with Lana nowhere in sight, "Damn it..." It was a trap; of course it was. Sucking in a pained hiss, Cindy grabbed the wall and pulled herself up. Everybody in a five mile radius must've heard that explosion.

Her spin-sense rang again and she flipped back to avoid the next bomb that landed where she just was, "Nice reflexes!" She looked up and grimaced at the figure above her. He was large, a fact helped by the extremely bulky armor and the frayed cloak he wore. It was an orange and black ensemble that reminded her of the heavy S.H.I.E.L.D units who fought against H.Y.D.R.A.

"What, nothing to say? No banter?" The mask that covered his face was shaped like a gray goblin or gargoyle of some kind with the mouth curled up in a demented grin. Even that looked almost normal compared to what he was riding: a sleek silver glider that looked way too similar to the one Gobby used a year ago. The bombs too now that she thought of it.

"And who are you supposed to be?" She looked past him to Shadowcat. Still unconscious.

"Oh I've got a lot of names, but you can call me...Goblin Knight."

She almost laughed, she really did, but then he pulled out a  _flaming sword_  and nearly sliced her head off. Cindy dodged the blow and slipped past him to Shadocat's prone body, "Kitty, a little help here!" She grabbed the unconscious mercenary and jumped off the roof. Still no sign of Lana, which she took as a good thing. It meant she could've been just fine somewhere else.

Cindy swung away to a less crowded area. If those bombs were anything like Gobby's then the last thing she needed was innocents getting caught in the crossfire, "Hey, where ya going?! We're just getting started!" Cindy dodged another bomb and cringed when it blew up a nearby water tower, showering the streets below. Yep, those things definitely packed a punch.

It only took her a minute to find a good spot: a mostly empty parking lot with only two cars taking up the corner spot. Cindy dropped Shadowcat off at a nearby building and turned around to meet, ugh,  _Goblin Knight_ , "Done running?" She could practically see the sneer under that ugly mask of his. First thing she'd do after this was tear that mask apart.

Her hands went for her pistols and she grimaced when she saw the mangled frames. Her guns were made of sterner stuff than the average weapon but a point blank explosion would mess anything up, _'Guess I gotta do this mano-e-mano...'_ She lowered herself into a fighting position and scanned the area for anything she could use. Like Natasha said: the one who plans is the one who wins.

Goblin face threw a bomb straight at her. Cindy webbed and threw it back at him before taking to the air again. He batted the bomb down to the ground and blew up both of the parked cars, "Gonna have to do better than that!" He charged towards her sword drawn and she swung past him to avoid the swipe. It was clear from the way he struck that he wasn't actually trained. Just a guy swinging a big stick around.

Cindy landed on the closest roof and shot two lines of webbing to his back and tried to pull him off the glider. He didn't budge at all, _'Either's got stick em powers too or those boots are magnetized.'_ She let go of the webs before he could drag her along and and jumped to the ground. Needed to avoid sticking to walls; she couldn't be sure there weren't people on the other side.

"So what did you think was gonna happen, huh?" Cindy ignored the question and swung up to kick him. The glider lowered suddenly and she found herself hitting air, "Think you could just come in and we wouldn't do anything about it? Did you think we were that stupid!"

He tried to slash at her again. She shot two lines of webbing to a nearby lamppost and pulled herself towards it. Cindy let go of the webs, grabbed the pole and used it to swing herself around back to where he was flying. Goblin face didn't get a chance to dodge again before she kicked him straight to the wall.

"Ow, you son of a-" She webbed a nearby manhole cover and chucked it straight to his neck. She hit his chest, but she considered it good enough, "Hey, you nearly took my head off! I'm supposed to be doing that!" Ugh, great, just what she needed: another psycho who thought making jokes was cool.

She jumped again and webbed his sword to pull it towards her. If she wanted to fight the guy head on then she'd rather do it without a flaming sword of death. She was only half-surprised when his grip on it refused to budge. Super strength or a powered suit; either way wasn't good for her,  _'Damn it...'_  She tugged him towards her and she ducked the sweeping slash.

Her counterattack was met with him flying off again, "That glider's really pissing me off." Cindy sorely wished that she had her guns again. Webs weren't doing here much good here.

She prepared to take to take to the air again when he chucked an entire belt of bombs at her. Eyes widening, she pulled herself away to the opposite end of the parking lot. The bombs exploded behind her and, while, she managed to avoid the brunt of the blast, the force of the explosion still sent her impacting against the building wall.

_'_ Really  _getting tired of this.'_

Cindy coughed and glared up at him as he flew down. She was so busy glaring that she almost missed the blur of yellow light surging up to her left, "What, got nothing to-" Lana materialized and dropkicked him straight through the wall to their right.

"...Took you long enough." She accepted the teenage hero's offered hand.

"Dude, there was another villain back there! You're lucky I got here as fast as I did after you ditched me." She scoffed, "Speaking of, where the fuck is Shadowcat?"

"Here." The mercenary 'floated' down to the ground, one hand rubbing her head and a murderous look on her face, "Just point me to who I gotta shishkebab."

Goblin face burst out of the rubble and shot up into the air again, "Three on one, huh? Not liking my chances here. Whadda say we even the odds?" He tapped his gauntlet and a whirring sound blared all around them. At least a dozen more goblins, each of them riding a glider, surrounded him. Cindy narrowed her eyes. If what she knew from Gobby was right then those were drones.

"Those are drones," Shadowcat said.

"No shit." Lana rolled her eyes, "Come on, let's do this."

They came all at once. Cindy dodged the first barrage and focused on one that was slightly farther from the rest. Lana blew up at least three in one go while Cindy webbed and threw hers towards Shadowcat, "Heads up!" Shadowcat cleaved the bot in two and Cindy punched the next one coming towards her. Its head flew clean off and she punched it in the chest again to make sure. Surprisingly punching robot heads off didn't always end them. Who knew?

She'd taken out her third bot when Goblin face finally joined with another dozen bots in tow, "Shoulda left it alone!" He slashed down overhead. Cindy dodged to the side and retaliated with a kick. It hurt them both, "Wooh, you pack a hit! Good thing I got this fancy suit!" The next slash grazed her side. Cindy stepped back and hissed as blood ran down her side. That'd hurt in the morning.

Shadowcut cat through another drone and gave her a handsignal. She knew what it meant, _'Damn it, Kitty...'_ This was gonna hurt. She covered her hands in a thick sheet of webbing and waited for him to strike.

He charged towards her cackling and swinging. Any attempts to web the sword were met with the silk immediately burning, "Gonna have to do better than that!" he jeered. Cindy got as close as she could to try and grab his wrists but came up short. So she grabbed the next best thing, "Oh man, you are crazy!" She grit her teeth to keep from screaming. He still hadn't let go, too busy laughing at how stupid she was being.

So he didn't see Shadowcut come in and cut his hands off till it was too late.

Cindy quickly let go of the flaming sword while Goblin face looked at the stumps where his hands used to be. Lana finished off the last drone and hit him with an explosive blast that smashed him against the wreckage of the still-burning cars, "Knew it'd work." Shadowcat grinned. Cindy just glared at her and peeled off the web that had melted into her skin. She was gonna pay her back for that later.

"Haha...haha..." Goblin face just looked down at his bloody stumps and kept laughing. Lana gave her a wary look, "Hahahaha...hahahaha...hahahahahHAHAHAHAHA!"

Her spin-sense blared way too late. Cindy fell on her knees and screamed, both hands pressed against her ears to try and block out the sound. It felt like someone was scratching a knife against her brain. Next to her Shadowcat and Lana fell too, the former looking like she was going to gouge her own ears out if it meant blocking out the sound.

She didn't know how long they stayed there helpless, but by the time she realized the sound was gone so was Goblin face. Cindy slowly lowered her hands and grimaced at the blood on her palms and the drops that fell down her ear, "What...the fuck...was that?" Lana muttered next to her. Cindy didn't answer her, "I...ugh, feels like someone cracked my skull open and pureed everything inside..."

"That's a nice picture." Shadowcat scoffed, "Considerin' Fuzzball ain't here I'm guessin' he led us to a trap or that asshole got him."

"Either way we need to look for him. Come on, let's get out of here..."

* * *

**SlayerOfThicness:**   **-embedded video-** **GPool**  just posted a vid of a  **Spinerette** ,  **Striker** and  **Claw Lady** team up. The end gets cut off but apparently it's for our own safety.

**Reply from Saviorofman** : Man,  **Spinerette's**  really pushing the limits to that whole Spider-Cop thing. First she's friends with  **Spider-Man**  now she's teaming up with unlicensed Gifted. How is she not in trouble for this?

**Reply from**   **1stEditionorNothingNerds** : Pretty sure some Supers have a 'do not touch' rule even if they aren't licensed. I mean you don't see people mobilizing to capture  **Moon Knight**  or that  **Daredevil**  guy, right? Government's got more to worry about than some vigilantes. 'Sides, no one's gonna cry over some rapists getting maimed.

**Reply from SlayerOfThicness**  - Don't think  **Claw Lady**  is a vigilante. Least I've never seen her doing hero work before.

**Reply from**   **1stEditionorNothingNerds:** She was there along with  **Claw Girl**  when they fought evil Cindy Moon, so she has that going for her.

**Reply from Beachgal:**  Off-topic, but anyone else think it's weird Striker's doing hero work in her school uniform?

**Reply from HahaHoho:**  Don't see me complaining. She makes it  _work_.

**Reply from**   **1stEditionorNothingNerds:** Dude she's underage. And didn't you say you're 35 in another post?

**Reply from HahaHoho:** She's 17, so that's New York legal ;D

**Reply from StrikerNotBombshell:**  How the fuck do you keep getting unbanned...?

* * *

This was hell.

Peter groaned and looked up at the ceiling. He read through a book Helen lent him and was very pointedly not thinking about what happened with Mary just a scant few hours ago. Sure, she'd kissed him back then, but that was just desperation; a need for comfort after the things that monster made her do. She didn't like him, and he was pretty sure he'd know if she did.

So what in the hell was that...?

Groaning again, he set the book down at his side and closed his eyes. At his side Norah looked up from her laptop with a wry smile before continuing her work. She was the one on babysitting duty now, her and Helen. Captain Stacy and Jones were out on a case (date) while Ben and May were with Helena, so that left just the two of them to watch over the grounded (cause that's what it was) Spider.

He groaned again and Helen set down on her own book, "What's wrong, Peter? Need something? Hungry?"

"No..." He sat up and rubbed his eyes, "I'm just going insane staying here. I didn't come back to New York just to be confined."

"Yeah, but we know you are cause you're whipped," Norah said, not looking up from her article. Peter glared at her, "Not that I blame you. I wouldn't wanna piss off someone who has tentacles either."

"Please don't use my daughter and tentacles in the same sentence. Thank you," Helen said.

"Oh yeah, you're her mom. Still kinda weird," Norah replied nonchalantly, "Anyway, how much longer we gotta stay here? I kinda have an article to write and I left poor Gabe to hold down the fort. I don't pay that kid nearly enough for that."

"I don't think  _you're_  getting paid enough considering what you do," Peter said.

"Action is my reward, Benjy." The blonde smiled cheekily. Peter rolled his eyes. God, he hated that theme song. And Gwen wondered why he didn't watch her show, "But yeah, you got a point. Still I can't exactly get paid more. Technically breaking and entering is still a crime and I only get away with it cause Bossman Urich's nephew's got a crush on me. And because I'm a badass, but hey."

"Good to know you stayed humble while I was gone." She spun around on the swivel chair with a teasing smile and he saw something on the screen that drew his attention: an old picture of Jack from a year ago, "...Hey, Helen, I'm actually kinda hungry. Could I ask you to..."

"Huh? Oh, sure. You too, Norah?"

"Yes please!"

He waited till her footsteps faded before he faded and walked towards Norah. She pressed the laptop to her chest but he easily grabbed it from her hands, "Hey!" She tried to take it back and he just put a hand on her face to keep her at bay. It was child's play even if she was an inch taller than him (a fact that she loved teasing him over), "This is theft of property and I will not stand for it! I  _will_  taze you!"

"Keep your shirt on, Summers." He scanned through the written article quickly, "New Lantern gang? Why the hell were you hiding this from me?"

She took the laptop back and hugged it to her chest protectively, "If you  _must_  know, Cindy wanted it kept on the down low. Didn't want you going off on a rampage or Gwen to get even more protective."

"I wouldn't have gone on a...rampage."

"Uh, bullshit? You look like you want to right now!" She rolled her eyes at his rebuke, "Whatever. I figured I was safe since you never pick up a newspaper and you never check the Front Line blogs. Even though I totally sent you that recommendation link."

"You know shameless self-promotion isn't an attractive trait, right?"

"Says the guy running around with his own logo'd jacket." She stuck her tongue out. Childish, "Anyway, I actually gotta go soon. Picked up a lead on the gang and I'd rather not wait till it gets cold. You understand, right?"

"Yeah. Where is it?"

"That's strictly nunya." Ugh, she knew he still didn't get all the lingo here, "I don't wanna be the one getting a tentacle up my ass from little miss Spider-Gwen, so how about I just go and you pretend we didn't have this conversation."

"You really think that's a good idea? You know what the Lanterns are like." He couldn't believe they were still alive. Just like the Hand; cockroaches to the last.

"Nice of you to worry, but I can take care of myself."

"Didn't say you couldn't, but it's still better to be careful than regret it later. Look, just let me come with you. I can watch your back and maybe I can get a lead on who's bankrolling these bastards. I got a feeling it's connected to that Hobgoblin guy Gwen's going after." Seemed to fit his M.O of running some kind of 'villain union', at least. Or at least that's what he'd tell Gwen when she asked.

"...You're  _that_  bored?"

"I'm going insane here." No use in mincing words to a journalist, "Come on. How'd you feel if someone tried to keep you locked up 'for your own good'."

"I'd probably scratch my own eyes out," she said without a hint of hesitation, "But that's just me. Still, as your best friend-"

"That's Cindy."

"...As your best  _journalist_  friend-"

"I dunno, I actually kinda like that Eddie Brock guy-"

"Right, goodbye."

She packed up her laptop and made to leave before he grabbed her hand, "Alright, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make more jokes. Gwen thinks I should lighten up."

"W-H-I-P-P-E-D." She made a whip sound effect and grinned while he gave her a flat stare, "I'm being serious though. You don't think Gwen's gonna be pissed? Those tentacles are not an idle threat." Why did she keep bringing those up? Was it any worse than the teeth or the strength to punch through a tank?

"I can deal with it. Besides, she'll be fine once I show her what's going on. I think this is connected to another bastard she's going after."

"Alright, fine, but when she catches us I am throwing you under  _all_  the buses. And I won't even feel bad."

"If I'm going down then I'm taking you with me, Summers."

Both he and Norah snuck out through the window and made their way to the nearby train station. The late night train was practically abandoned save a sleeping woman with a bag of booze next to her. He was almost tempted to sneak a couple out; it'd been days since he had a drink, "You know, this is a pretty far stretch to go on a date with me," Norah smirked, "If you just wanted to ask me out you could've been more upfront."

"Oh yeah, you hired me to be your photographer-"

"Photo monkey!"

" _Photographer_  because you wanted an interview with Spider-Man. And you didn't realize it was me for about a month. You're definitely the gal for me."

"Sorry, Benjy, I'm just not into dating right now. Focusing on my career, ya know? Though you are my type, so you got that going for you."

"You gotta be messed up if someone like me's 'your type'."

"Ooh, don't let Gwen hear ya say that. She'll go off on a rant about how you're better than you think you are."

"Heh, you're probably right." She always tried to look for the best in people...except for Matt and Moon. Far as she was concerned they were nothing but bastards to their core, "Hey, I been meaning to ask. What the hell's up with you and Castle?"

"Frank? Uh...we're friends, I guess?"

"Last I checked Castle didn't do friends." Or family. Made it clear they didn't matter much to him, even if he was willing to fight Murdock for revenge, "I'm really hoping your 'type' doesn't include psychopaths."

"What is this, an interrogation?" He raised a brow.  _That_  sounded far more defensive than it should have, "Hey, don't look at me like that. I know when I'm being psychoanalyzed."

"Don't have to. You're so damn defensive it's obvious something's there." He scoffed, "Wanna tell me?"

"Uh, I am not  _nearly_  drunk enough for that. Try again."

Norah watched in confusion as he stood and made his way to the sleeping woman on the opposite side of their chairs, "'Scuse me..." He picked up two cans of (lukewarm, cause of course it was) beer and left 20 dollars in their place. Seemed fair, "Here. Best you're gonna get." He handed her one of the cans. She stared at it warily and grimaced when she took the first sip, "Not your thing."

"I generally prefer my beer cold, yeah." She rolled her eyes, "Why are you asking anyway? You actually wanna ask me out?"

"I'm...worried about you," he said slowly. She blinked languidly in response, "Despite everything we  _are_  friends, and as much as I know Castle isn't a total bastard that doesn't exactly mean I completely trust him."

"Yeah, I get it." She sighed softly, "Well...we slept together."

"I gathered that. You weren't exactly subtle." She didn't announce it to the world or anything, but he could make an educated guess based on how she was acting, "I'm not gonna judge you for it. That last month a year ago wasn't exactly a field of roses and we took any kind of reprieve we could. I just...wanna make sure there's nothing deeper than that."

"Trust me, there isn't." She smirked, though it was weaker than she might've wanted, "I just...alright, realtalk for a minute. One of the reasons I became a journalist is cause I wanted to spite my mom and grandma. They wanted me to stay in buttfuck Wisconsin and, I dunno, make cheese or baskets or something. I wanted away and figured being a journalist was the easiest thing."

"And here I thought you found your calling in exposing injustices."

"We can't all be saints like Gwen, hm?" She took a long sip of her beer, "I mean I do want to do that, but...I dunno how to say it. You ever get that high when you're in danger or getting into a fight?"

"No. Fighting is...it's something you do when you have to. No fun in it."

"Look at you, Mr. Zen." She finished off the can, "Some of the things I've been doing. You know, sneaking into gang hideouts, tangling with darkweb hackers...I get nightmares from that, but a part of me loves the rush. Like the guy who weaves through traffic or Gwen when she goes on one of her swings through town. It's a part of me, you get?"

"So...Castle was just another high?"

"I guess? Like I said it's hard to explain. I do trust him, and I think he's got more of a heart than he lets on, but that danger and the idea of going with the freaking  _Punisher_? Yeah, there's kind of a rush there." She smiled, though it was noticeably crooked, "One of my psychologist buddies in college said I probably just never grew up. I'm still that teenager rebelling against her parents."

"Most teenagers kill themselves diving through dumpsters for a high. Least you're doing something."

"I like to think so."

The rest of the ride was spent in a heavy but not uncomfortable silence. Peter looked across to his impromptu partner and caught her fingering the scar on her cheek, "You know I could do something about that," he said. She always paraded it around as a mark of accomplishment; something she and Cin shared, "I picked up some tricks. Could help fade those out." Stick would've tanned his hide if he knew he was offering Chi for skincare.

"You offer the same thing to Cindy?"

"Yeah, she didn't want to. Says she wants to remember."

"Same here then. Kinda. I dunno, I just think it looks cool." She shrugged, "Ooh, but I do have a bruise on my side that's getting really purple. Katzenberg bumped into me 'accidentally'."

"Sure. Show it." She pulled up the side of her hoodie and shirt to expose the right side of her waist. The bruise wasn't too large, though it did stick out considering the paleness of the skin around it, "Surprised you didn't pay this guy back."

"Who says I didn't?" She squirmed slightly when his fingertips grazed skin, "Kicked him in the balls. Accidentally. Seriously, though, I've got no clue why Robbie still accepts freelance work from that guy. I feel slimy just looking at him."

"Pragmatism wins the day." A dull yellow light seeped into her flesh and when he pulled his hands back the bruise was gone, "There. Tell me if you need anything, but don't abuse it. I'm your friend, not a miracle worker."

"Sure, sure. I'll hit you up when I find any more nasties." She looked up, "We're coming up on the station. Let's go."

The walk to the location was short. Peter made sure to keep his hood up and his mask close at hand. Norah said she just wanted to meet a contact and gather some info, preferably without any punching, "This guy better be worth it for the money I'm spending," the blonde muttered next to him. Her hood was pulled up as well with one eye partially covered by her hair. It was definitely a different look on her.

"Aren't you worried he might recognize you? You're pretty well-known for exposing Matt." Apparently she was going to pretend to be an aspiring recruit.

"Best part of being a journalist: fame in our world is way different. Pretty sure most people just know I'm a blonde, and good luck narrowing that down." She stopped and looked around, "He's not here."

"Should we wait?"

"Yeah, I'm getting my money's worth, damn it."

The wait ended up being for naught. Barely 15 minutes had passed before a pair of footsteps reached them...and it definitely wasn't who they were looking for, "There you are!" Helen stopped and put her hands on her knees as she panted, glaring up at them. Real nice leaving me waiting down there."

"How the hell did you find us?" Peter asked incredulously.

"Find my phone app," Helen said nonchalantly. Peter opened his phone and cursed when he saw said app on the screen, "What the hell?"

"You know I think the blame is partially on you for not password locking your freaking phone," Norah said. Peter glared at her, "What? I'm not the one who put that in there so don't look at me like that."

"It doesn't matter." Helen stood up straighter now, "Point is you two snuck out. Let's go back."

"We're doing something right now, Helen. Just give us some-" Spider-sense. Not danger, something else. Peter looked around and narrowed his eyes when he saw a bunch of masked figures going into a building on the next street over, "...Tell me I'm not the only one who saw that."

"Nope, saw em too. Spider-Worshippers." He wanted to wipe that grin off Norah's face, "Looks like your fanclub got here ahead of us."

"Just great..." Helen sighed.

"They're gonna get themselves killed." He put on his mask and followed with Norah coming after him. Helen stayed behind called someone - probably the police - on her phone. This was why he never saw the appeal of fame - too many idiots who got themselves hurt 'for you'. He didn't know how Gwen dealt with it, "I'm gonna go up. You should probably stay here-"

"Not happening. We're partners, so you're not ditching me."

"Your funeral." He grabbed hold of her with his right arm and shot a line of webbing from Gwen's webshooter with the other. The biocable pulled them up quickly and Peter ran towards the nearby skylight. Spider Worshippers were fighting against a buncha mooks dressed up in green and pumpkin masks, "Damn it, I gotta get down there. You stay here. No arguments."

"Fine. I'll take some pictures."

Peter jumped and crashed through the skylight, raining glass down on everyone below. Most them looked up in shock just before he threw the smoke grenade,  _'Focus...'_ He charged towards the pumpkin masked figures through the smoke. He wasn't blind anymore, but he could still see the world through more than just his eyes.

Peter disarmed the closest one's knife and snapped his wrist. The pumpkin headed bastard screamed and Peter kicked the knife into the corner before slamming him down to the floor. It was tempting to use it himself, but the last thing he needed now was anyone dying.

He webbed down two more stumbling figures and focused on another. The smoke was dissipating now and both sides were going back to their fighting. He just hoped his 'fans' could take care of themselves.

"Holy shit, that's the real Spider-Man!" One of his 'fans', a woman by the sounds of her , screamed. Peter ignored her and webbed down a couple more who tried to attack him.

He headbutted another Lantern thug and looked around to assess the situation. No firearms from what he could see, just pipes, knives, crowbars and anything else they could grab. Hopefully it meant no one would end tonight bleeding out of their skull.

There were only a few left by the time he saw a few of the Lanterns cut and run. Peter punched away the Lantern trying to grapple him and chased after them, "Hey, wait up!" Norah jumped down from the fire escape and shot one of the Lanterns running below her with a tazer. The pumpkin headed bastard convulsed briefly and fell to the ground.

Peter shot a line of white webbing and snagged another. The Lantern tried to struggle only for Peter to slam him against the wall and web him to the surface.

Only one left.

The last Lantern ran like a man possessed. Peter was forced to wait a few seconds for Norah to land before finally giving chase again. She doubted the guy knew anything worthwhile, but Norah insisted that they catch him anyway.

He'd almost caught up when he heard a *thwip* that definitely didn't come from him. Peter looked up at the source and stopped when he saw Gwen's all too familiar figure swing overhead and tug the Lantern up by a string of webbing. The pumpkin headed bastard screamed and struggled till Gwen webbed him from head to toe and left him hanging from a nearby lamppost.

...Was it too late to run?

"Yes, it's too late to run." Did he say that out loud? Peter stepped back slightly as Gwen landed on the ground, the eyes of her mask narrowed. Not a good sign, "Hey Peter, funny seeing you here." Her voice was calm and sickly sweet. Another not good sign. He couldn't see Helen anywhere but he got the distinct feeling it wasn't the cops she called.

"Hey Ben I got-" Norah stopped when she saw just who was in front of her, "Oh...well, you seem busy, I'll just uh..."

"You stay right there, Norah. I gotta talk with you too."

"I'd really rather leave-"

"Take one more step and my vengeance will be slow and painful. And filled with tentacles." Norah completely froze. Peter raised a brow; it was clear she was in a bad mood and it wasn't just for them sneaking out, "Now, do you mind explaining just exactly what you were doing here?"

"Following a lead." He nudged his head to the hanging Lantern, "Heard there was was a new gang following Jack's insanity and Summers said she had a source."

"And then his fanclub showed up and made giant mess," Summers added quickly, "Speaking of they're still back there so I really should-"

"Move and your orifices will be violated." Alright, something definitely put her in a mood. Gwen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Peter, what part of 'keep a low profile' do you not understand?"

"The part where it means I'm under house arrest until people stop wanting to kill me," he said, "I get that you're worried, Spider-Woman, but neither of us do this because it's safe and easy. I'll admit Sowande caught us off-guard, but that doesn't mean I can run and hide till someone else solves my problem. I know you're worried, but that's not how this is going to go."

"You're unbelievable." She sighed again and looked him in eyes, "Unbelievable and so lucky that I actually need your help to make any headway on this bounty thing. Norah too."

"Does that mean there won't be unmentionables stuffed up my unmentionables?" Norah asked warily.

"Yes. I was kinda pissed, okay? Sorry about the threats." She shook her head and swung them both up to the nearby rooftop for a little more privacy. Norah stepped away and patted herself down, "...Do you seriously think I left a piece of Webster on you?"

"Can't be too careful."

"This from someone who's best friends with MJ."

The mask peeled away and exposed the troubled expression she had kept hidden, "...What's wrong, Gwen?" Peter asked.

"Good news is I know the guy who put the bounty on you- put that gun down." She glared at him half-heartedly, "Even if I did agree to just let you off this guy we can't be sure killing him will just end the bounty."

"She's got a point," Norah said.

"Point is that we need to do this without throwing punching. So to make a long story short: Peter, we need to break up."

...

"Please make the story longer. I feel like I missed something here."

* * *

**MyChemicalHatred:** Anyone else find it weird that the  **Defenders**  were being led by a guy who can't even legally drink?

**Reply from KingdomheartsisDARK:** Not any weirder than a 15 year old being one of their past members.

**Reply from BottlesnotPLASTIC:** I'm more curious on where  **Spider-Man**  keeps  _finding_ these people. The Avengers I get since most of them are public figures but where in the fuck did he get  **Punisher, Black Cat, Striker, Bullseye, Moon Knight, Daredevil, Fire Biker**  and  **Ninja Lady?** And why are they on his team? Something tells me he's not paying them.

**Reply from Neetman:** Striker said a year ago that they worked together because they all hated Matt Murdock. Think there's another Big Bad for the new Defenders to join up?

**Reply from HandHoldingisLewd:** Personally I think at least a couple of them are there cause they wanna fuck Spider-Man. I mean, did anyone else see how tense he and Daredevil were during Arcade's torture show? And Spidey definitely looked heartbroken when that ninja chick fell. Spider-Woman should watch her back.

**Reply from KingdomheartsisDARK:** Just cause you've made it clear you wanna fuck Spider-Man doesn't mean everyone else does.

**Reply from HahaHoho:**  I'd like to interject (and totally derail this topic) by saying that Spider-Woman has a great ass. That is all :D

**Reply from HandHoldingisLewd:** Meh, I think Spinerette's is better.

**Reply from FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderwoman:**  Seriously, how do you keep coming back?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I definitely enjoyed writing Norah and Noir's back and forths. Jouranlist/Vigilante friendships are always fun and since they were meant to be the original romance the chemistry still sticks around.
> 
> Next chapter will be Matt and MJ going after Fancy Dan's crew and, if I have enough time, Gwen enlisting the help/getting advice from the other protagonists plus Norah on her break-up with Peter. And in case you didn't catch on, they're not actually breaking up.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Do you guys want more cross-villain encounters? In this chapter both Noir and Cindy end up fighting against baddies more related to Hogoblin than their own bad guys. I'm also planning for another hero to encounter Cloak and Dagger. Should I keep it up or keep them more segmented?
> 
> 2\. Do you guys want another date chapter? Apparently romance sells and I'm nothing if not hungry for reviews and readers.


	23. Little Red's Claws

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Relatively faster update but the last chapter didn't get much reviews. Not surprising since it was mostly filler. Next chapter will be Gwen and Lana focused for the sake of balance and to get the plot moving again.
> 
> This is a Mary Jane chapter. I considered adding a Gwen segment to the end but I wanted to keep the tone consistent. Having Gwen ask for advice on how to play femme fatale would've jarred heavily considering what happened. Hopefully this chapter gets a bit more feedback considering I'm trying to tackle the Matt/MJ thing.
> 
> Side note - Peter has a slight lead on Matt in the voting so far.

**Hopeful_Pessimist:**  So my friend wants to join the  **Avengers**. How would she go about doing that?

**Reply from Dig-bick:**  Um...are you serious? That's like asking how you sign up to be part of Seal Team Six.

**Reply from AviationQUEEN:**  Yeah, 'his friend'. Speech 100. Stealth 100.

**Reply from Hopeful_Pessimist:**  She's very serious. Hey, the Avengers have to accept members, right? Can't just be six of em forever.

**Reply from Dig-bick:** And what makes her think she has what it takes? I mean does she have powers or...?

**Reply from Hopeful_Pessimist:** No powers, but she's got a 3rd degree black belt in judo. I mean Hawkeye's got no powers besides a bow and arrow and she's one of the core members.

**Reply form Hidinginahole:**  If your friends wants to sign up for the Avengers maybe she should try going for the Initiative first? Here's a  **link**  to the sign up procedures. I heard that really good recruits will get drafted as different Avengers branch members.

**Reply from Hopeful_Pessimist:** She doesn't want to join the Initaiative and be a glorified beat cop. She wants to help with the big leagues.

**Reply from Dig-bick:** 'I don't wanna join the police, I wanna be SWAT!' is essentially what your friend's saying. Doesn't work that way dude.

**Reply from Hopeful_Pessimist:** And yet Kate Bishop gets in with no problems? Gotta love those 1 percenter perks. SMDH.

**Reply from Hidinginahole:**  Dude, you do know she's estranged from her family, right? She was working as a PI over in Hell's Kitchen when she joined. Also, I wouldn't call helping save the city from the  **Carnage Killer**  'no problem'. Not unless your friend was out there judo flipping those monsters.

**Reply from Hidinginahole:** Lol he blocked me.

**Reply from Noobmaster69:**  Off topic but I'm confused on the requirements to sign up. I mean some of these guys have powers, but others don't. One of the Initiative members in Houston is Shooting Star and her skills are she can shoot and lasso real good and ride a horse. Couldn't any good enough police officer sign up?

**Reply from Dig-bick:** I dunno either. Honestly I just figure it's how good your costume looks in posters.

* * *

Daniel Brito - better known to his associates as Fancy Dan - had been at the business for years. He started off like a lot of em: poor kid on the street who decided if he was gonna be a taker or a victim. Dear old mom and dad, bless their poor souls, thought a high horse was better than keeping their kids fed so eventually, like anyone else would have, he decided he'd had enough.

Joining a gang was easy. There were dozens of em around in Hell's Kitchen, which everyone now attributed to some kind of demon pullin' the strings. He didn't buy it. People didn't need an excuse to take and do what they do best, demon or no demon. Look at him. He didn't need no devil pulling his strings to do his job as a legitimate, off the books businessman.

After joinin' up moving through the ranks was child's play. It was a balancing act - be loyal enough that the bosses trusted you but not too much that they thought you were just a yes man. There were some morons who thought bein' a lapdog was the fast track to success. He wasn't one of em. He knew when to make friends and when to stab someone in the back. He didn't feel bad about it; it was an occupational hazard in this line of work. If someone stabbed him in the back and he died it would've been his fault for not seein' it comin'.

Those years of experience served him well. He'd done it all - protection rackets, loan sharking, body disposal, birthday parties and even the occasional hit for those complicated individuals. Sure he didn't have any of em fancy powers like that albino freak Tombstone but he did his job and he did it well. 'Sides, no powers meant them fancy Superheroes didn't think he was goin' after. He was just fine being a big fish in a little pond.

Speakin' of work.

"Now, now, now, Philly. What are we gonna do with ya?" Dan sighed and tapped the end of the bloodied baseball bat against his gloved hands. It took em a few days to find the slippery old bastard after Merry Mary decided she didn't wanna pay his bills anymore. Dan didn't blame her. Even he was surprised he had the balls to ask for 10 grand after his daughter bailed him out. Personally he didn't want to give him anything - seemed like a bad investment - but bossman said he wanted it and what the boss said goes.

"P-Please, just...just give a chance to pay it back," Ol' Philly Cheese Steak sputtered. He was a mess, face all fucked up with blood and bruises from his bat kissing his face over and over and over. Boss said to work him over for a bit and see if he spilled anything. Just the face, though. If he couldn't pay anything, which was seeming more and more likely, then they could probably sell some of his organs. Drug addicted and drunk on top, but it wasn't like people in the Kitchen were picky. A liver was a liver.

Dan smacked him in the face again. Philly probably would've fallen over if Montana and Ox didn't keep him on his knees, "This is the same old song you been singing, Philly. You actually got any money for us that don't come at the end of a rainbow?" He nudged the end of the bat to his knees, "Or are we gonna move into your two pals here? I gotta tell ya, the crunch is never pleasant."

"W-Wait, I-"

"You look like you're having fun."

Dan looked back and smirked when he saw Merry Mary not too far off, arms crossed over her (pretty big, if he was bein' honest') chest, "Well now, fancy seein' you here, darlin'." He knew he'd see her again. She was one of them good ones and it made her predictable. Even if her daddy was worth less than tits on a scarecrow she wouldn't abandon him. Just didn't work like that for them good girls.

Merry Mary didn't even look at her blubberin' dad, "Take me to your boss. I'm here to make a deal." Dan raised a brow. A meeting with the boss? Well now she was a brave little thing, wasn't she? Dan whistled while Montana and Ox stared at her. He didn't blame em; she was definitely a looker. The red tanktop, black shorts and sneakers didn't leave much to the imagination, if you caught his drift. Hard to believe she was Philly's kid.

"Oh really now?" Dan asked slowly, "And what makes you think the boss'll meet with ya?"

"Cause I've got money." She raised a wad of bills and tossed it to him. Dan counted it quickly and whistled again. There was at least 20 grand in there, "Figured this guy would have some interest considering how much hassle he was.

"Now where'd someone like you get this much money?"

"Let's just say I made a new friend." Heh, most times he heard that from a dame it was after they got a new sugar daddy. Well, didn't surprise him. She was probably sleepin' with that old pervert Kingsley, "So, do we have a deal?"

"Thing is, darlin', I make the deals around here. Bossman don't like to be fussed with the little stuff, you get me?" He grabbed her chin with one hand and raised her head so they could see eye to eye. She just looked up at him without flinching, "Now I admit your savin' your daddy is admirable, but that doesn't get you an invite to the top. We don't hand those out willy nilly."

"I didn't come here to save him. Kill him if you want, doesn't matter to me." Wow, he almost bought that. Them models were good actresses, "You see that money? That's chump change to what I'm offering. My friend knows that you dabbl in some stuff that you wouldn't exactly want on the records and he's interested. The money was just to show we're good for it, not for him." She practically spat at Philly after that.

"And who is this friend of yours?" He let go of her.

"The name Matt Murdock ring any bells?"

Well now, wasn't  _that_  interesting, "And here I thought you were sleepin' with Kingsley. Yeah, we know. Who doesn't know the Kingpin? Still, what's it matter? Apparently he was just some demon's bitch and he turned over a new leaf."

"Please, you honestly believe that? You don't think it's just really convenient that he names some names and he's still got a penthouse and immunity to prosecution? The Kingpin was playing the long game. So what if he threw some of those guys under the bus? You think there won't be more to take their place? Kingpin's starting up again and he's looking for good men."

"See, thing is how do we know we won't be the next names he tosses?"

"He already knows your name, Daniel Brito. And your boss 'The Big Man', or as his friends call him, Frederi-"

"Hey now!" He stepped closer to her. She didn't even move, "Them names ain't something you blurt out, darlin'."

"Point is he knows who you are and he could go to the press if he wanted. But he's not, because he knows when to cut a deal. That's all this is. You take me to your boss and I make my offer? You say yes? Then we've got a deal. You say no? Then he looks for someone else who knows a good offer when they see it. Either way it's no skin off my nose."

"Heh, you got a silver tongue on you, girly." He grinned, "Call me curious, but how'd you get involved with the Kingpin of all people?"

"Same way I got involved with you." Ah, daddy dearest. Why was he not surprised? "Look, let's not pretend I'm bigger than I am. You think I'm the only one he sent out to make one of these deals? He's got dozens of people all over the city. He said that if I did this I can consider Phil's debt paid, so can we just do this? I honestly don't care if you say yes or no. I just want this over with."

"Don't shoot the messenger, eh? I get that. Still, you're gonna have to make it worth our while. Boss doesn't meet with just anyone."

"What do you want? More money?"

"Nah, somethin' a bit simpler. See, boss has been hankerin' for some company of the feminine kind."

She raised a brow, "Thought your boss didn't do those kinds of thing?"

"Nah, I said  _we_  weren't allowed to do that. The Big Man can do whatever the hell he wants. So, we got a deal?"

"Fine. Anything to get this guy off my back." He leered at her. He had to admit, he felt jealous of the bossman right then and there. If he was just a bit younger (tough he personally thought he was still at his prime at 39) he would've gone for her himself. But now he was focused. No time for spread legs when you got work, "So, are we going or what?"

"Not so fast. Gotta make sure you ain't wearing a wire."

She sighed and raised the sleeveless shirt up till it reached her chest before spinning around. Montana's eyes looked like they were gonna pop out, "There, I'm not wearing a wire. Happy now? Can we go?"

"Sure, sure. What do we do about ol' Philly Cheese Steak here?"

"I don't care. I'm not here for him, remember?"

The four of em left Philly down at the alley. Ox and Montana were up front while he and Merry Mary took up the backseats. For someone who was walkin' into the lion's den the girl looked damned bored. She just looked out the window and completely ignored Ox giving her that ol' hangdog look. Boy was thicker than a sack of bricks but he was good at his job.

"Watch it there, darlin'. Looks like Ox got a little crush on ya."

"Oh good, that's just what I needed." She sneered and crossed her right leg over the left. Montana looked up from the wheel to the rearview mirror to look at her too. Either the dame knew exactly what she was doing or she was dumber than ox after he got some booze in him.

They stopped in front of the old office building, "This is the place?" She stepped and closed the door behind her. The men keeping watch outside gawked at her. They were used to ladies of the night wanderin' in for the boss' daily fuckin', but she was different. Looked like a college girl who made a wrong turn somewhere. Already saw some of em lickin' their lips and undressin' her with their eyes.

"Hey John, bossman in?"

"Yeah, he's upstairs. Who's this?" He eyed Merry Mary.

"Someone makin' a deal. No one touch her." He led the way to the second floor. Marylooked around as they walked down the hall and up the stairs, "Ain't nothin' fancy, but it gets the job done."

"Low profile too. No wonder I couldn't find you." She smiled at that. Looked off on her.

"Well, here we are." He knocked on the door to the bossman's room, "Hey, boss, ya there? Someone here for you. Business and pleasure."

"Get in here then."

He opened the door and was met with the sight of the big man himself leaning back on a his personal couch. Usually he would've had a dame on each arm but instead he was sitting across from a big man in a white suit, A business deal, "Ah, Mr. Reilly. Pleasure to see ya again." Dan smiled. James Reilly, head of the upcoming Irish mob in the kitchen with a stranglehold on the drug trade. He respected the man, even if they'd crossed more than once."

"Daniel," he said back, accent thick and rich, "Who's this little thing?"

"Mary Watson. Came here to make a deal, and other things." He grabbed her butt and nudged her forward. The bossman leaned forward and eyed her up and down. He liked what he saw, "Figured you'd wanna hear what she said." Wasn't like he had to be worried. There was half a dozen of their boys in the room plus him, Ox, Montana and Reilly's guys. If she tried anything she wouldn't get far.

"So...you're the boss, huh?" Mary crossed her arms and stared at him. He didn't blame her. The big man drew your attention, good or bad. He was tall and lanky, kinda like a scarecrow accordin' to the police files, with pasty white skin like barely hidden by his black suit; just like that freak Tombstone. He was strong too. Saw the man pull a knife out of his gut and stab the dumbass stupid enough to try and attack him with it. Apparently he got lucky with the mists.

"Yeah, and you're my...entertainment for tonight?"

"You could say that." There was that smile again, "Before we get down to business I'd like to ask if you dabble in selling products with fingers and toes."

"Heavy question to start with, doll." He laughed, "Since nothing's leaving this table, sure. I dabble in it. It's not my main source of income, but anything that makes money is fair game."

"I see. So...does the name Madelyn Turner mean anything to you?" The boss' eyes narrowed while Dan looked at Mary warily. What the hell was she playing at? "Cause I heard from a friend of yours that your little group here was the one who sold her to that piece of shit Arcade." Her smile got wider, "Tell me if I'm right cause I get the feeling I am."

"What the hell is this?" The big man stood and pointed a gun at her. The boys looked around warily then followed suit while Reilly and his guys just watched, "You're not a mole, Dan wouldn't have let you in here with a wire, and you're not even trying to hide. What are you? Some kind of wannabe Superhero?"

"Heh... _ **you wish.**_ "

And then she sliced the boss' arm off. It was so fast if he blinked then he would've missed it - one second the boss was pointin' a gun at her and the next there was nothin' but a bloody stump. The big man looked at where his arm used to be then he screamed, "Fuck! Kill this crazy bitch! Shoot you-" Mary's arm - a blade - stabbed him in the gut and pinned him to the wall before slowly, tortuously moving up to his head.

The boss screamed again and they finally got their bearings.

"Shoot! Shoot, god damn it!" Dan screamed. He shot his pistol and kept pulling the trigger till he was out of ammo. Everyone else around him did the same, even Reilly and his boys. Pistols, sawn offs, uzis; they unloaded it all on her and kept firin till there should've been nothin' left.

Emphasis on should've been.

" ** _Are you done?_** " She twisted her head around and Dan near on pissed himself when he saw her face. Gone was the pretty redhead and instead there was some...thing where her head should've been. Not entirely. There were still parts of her face that looked like the Mary from before, but it was nothing compared to the pulsating red flesh and teeth that covered the rest of her.

Dan fumbled to reload his gun when she sliced his stomach open. He looked down at gaping wound for a second before he dropped the pistol and stumbled back. There was a lot of screaming after that, everyone either trying to fight or escape. Dan didn't pay attention to any of it. He managed to stumble out the door, hands trying to hold his guts in, and whimpered when Ox tried to run past him and got impaled through the back of the head for his trouble. He couldn't even see Montana.

Insane. This was insane. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He told the boss getting involved with that crazy assassin would would be trouble but he didn't fucking listen! The money was good, he said, and besides what did it matter what happened to that brat? Might as well get a pretty penny for her 'fore she spoiled.

He could still hear the screaming behind him. Dan stumbled down the turn in the hallway and stopped when the pain became too much, "Damn it..." He slowly pulled his hand back and almost threw up when he saw the guts spilling out. He needed a doctor, fast. Hell, he'd throw himself to the nearest boy in blue if it meant getting away from this.

And then it became quiet. No screams, no gunfire, nothing. Dan shut his eyes tightly and continued down the hall. He just needed to-

Footsteps. He heard footsteps.

"No. No, no, no, no, no...!" He had to move. Dan raised one hand against the wall and pushed himself as fast as he could. The footsteps got closer and closer till they stopped again.

When Dan looked back he found Mary standing at the end of the hall. She was covered head to toe in red - blood and that fucked up skin of hers. He could see more of her face now, but the veins that pulsed up her jaw up to her cheeks wasn't a reassuring sight.

And then when her eyes met she smiled.

She walked towards him again. Slow, trying to drag it out. He knew it was pointless, that he couldn't get away, but he still continued on and kept walking, "H-Hey now, Mary, let's make a deal, huh?" She didn't stop, "I-I dunno what you want, but I'm a businessman. You want it, I can get it for ya. We can all be reasonable here, huh? C-Come on, let's deal! Please!"

The first slash cut across his back. Dan fell to the ground and screamed as she cut across his back again and again and  **again**. Dan screamed till his voice grew hoarse and he cried, begging for someone, anyone to help him, " ** _How's it feel?_** " The monster hissed, " ** _This is what that little girl felt in that last minute. So tell me, how does it feel, Dan?_** "

All this...because of that damn brat? Dan opened his mouth and nothing came but pained, bloody gurgles. His body twitched and convulsed and he used what little strength he had left to try and crawl forward before a feeling of cold seeped over him and he lay still.

**_'He's dead.'_ **

_'Tell me something I don't know.'_ Mary Jane looked down at Dan's bloody, cut up corpse and felt...nothing. She thought she'd feel happy. Justice served, right? These bastards wouldn't go after anyone again.

Instead all she could think about was how disappointed Gwen was going to be.

She threw up. It was an odd feeling, going from calm to so sick she could barely stand,  _ **'Don't tell me you're feeling guilty now!'**_  Crimson groused,  _ **'We got more than we bargained for! First we killed that guy's boss and then the guy he was talking to. That's less people they'll hurt! You should be happy!'**_

_'Why the hell did I act like that?'_  She could've just killed them quickly, impaled each and every one of them in the head before they could do anything. Instead she dragged it out and stalked Dan the hall like a damned slasher villain.

**_'Part of the exchange,'_**  Crimson said, _ **'You change me, and I change you, remember? This is a give and take, Red. If you being a goodie two shoes means I don't want to kill Stacy anymore me being the fun one means you'll let loose every now and then.'**_

_'Let loose?! This wasn't a freaking bender, Crimson!'_ She shook her head and stood up straighter. Much as she wanted to keep arguing she couldn't stay here for long. Eventually the gunshots would be reported and the last thing she needed was to be here when the cops showed up, "Where the hell is Daredevil...?" He said he'd deal with the lower floor. She didn't bother to talk him out of it.

Footsteps came up the stair. Mary Jane morphed her fingers to claws till he saw Daredevil limping up the stairwell, "...You look like shit." She looked him up and down. There was a noticeable wound at his left side. Buckshot maybe?

"A charmer as always, Ms. Watson." He grinned, showing off his bloodstained teeth, "I made sure no one else below is breathing. No one will remain to testify of our presence here and the police will assume it was a gang war gone wrong."

"Seriously? Last I checked most gangs don't eviscerate people."

"You haven't read up on Leland Owlslely then." He laughed under his breath, "It doesn't matter if it's true or not; it's the conclusion the police will rush to in order to come up with a convenient explanation. It helps that Mr. Foswell was one of the Gifted. They'll find some way to pin the odd state of the bodies on him. So easy to distrust what you fear, isn't it?"

"Whatever you say..." She pursed her lips, "Are we done here?"

"Not yet. I want to search through Foswell's files. If he's any kind of meticulous then I imagine he kept a list of his contacts, buyers and other such things for insurance. This was just one part of a tangled web, Scarlet Spider."

"Of course it is..."

They ended up getting the files (no, she didn't question how a blind man could read ink) and swinging away just in time for the cops to check over the scene. Mary Jane didn't look back and just followed Murdock. She tried not to dwell on what she'd just done. Because of what they did there wasn't any proof they were there - no witnesses, no fingerprints, nothing.

Eventually Murdock stopped at a far enough rooftop and sat on one of the vents. He pulled his mask off and hissed as he pressed both hands against his sides, "You dying or something?" she snarked.

"Would that we were all so lucky." he laughed, "No, I'll survive for a while yet, though I'm afraid I pushed myself beyond my limits tonight. Sometimes I forget I don't have a demon in my corner anymore."

"Is that supposed to be a joke?"

"A grim one, but yes." He stood up shakily and put his mask back on. It didn't do much to hide the pain he was in, "It pains me to say it but I would like to ask for your help. I've reached the limitations of my limited chi abilities." Chi? What was this, meals on wheels?

"Seriously? You think that's a good idea?" She raised a brow.

"I simply need to make sure that I don't collapse before I find sanctuary. You have good reason to share that sentiment as well - wouldn't want these placed in the wrong hands, would you?" He gestured to the stacks of files attached to his non-bleeding side. A list of people - targets, prey,  _ **meat**  _\- for her to go after.

"Could just take it from you..."

"And search for them on your own? I know Miss. Winters is an adept journalist but it'll be far slower in comparison to Karen. So..." He raised up a bloody hand, "Would you help me. Please?"

"...Fine."

As expected he didn't want to be taken to a hospital. Instead she swung over to the church she only vaguely remembered from last year's shitshow, "Really didn't wanna come back here..." She knew Norah came back to help the nun who ran this place but all she thought of when it came to this place was being attacked by ninjas, terrorists and ninja terrorists. On Murdock's orders, by the way.

**_'That was a fun day.'_ **

"Hello?" She opened the door and dragged Murdock inside. The place was dimly lit and looked like something out of a horror movie, "Any nuns here who care about devils? Cause I got one who's dying."

"Not dying..." Murdock muttered.

The door to the back opened and the nun - Sister Maggie, if she recalled correctly - rushed out and and gave Murdock a pained look when she saw him, "Oh, Matt..." She almost felt sorry for her. Almost. Mary Jane had nothing against the woman, she didn't really know her, but she did know she was Murdock's mom and that meant she didn't really trust her. At least she kept Tiger safe.

Mary Jane followed her to the back and dropped Murdock on the bed. The nun immediately got to work and started to peel off the poorly designed armor, "Oh my boy, you need to stop doing this to yourself," she whispered. He didn't say anything, though whether it was cause he was unconscious or something else she didn't know. Those wounds definitely looked nasty.

"Right...well, I should probably-"

"I need your help." Well, so much for that early exit... "Do you have any first aid experience?"

"Uh, not really? I know how to slap on a band-aid, does that count?"

"It will have to do." Sister Maggie sighed and pulled out a (sparse) first-aid kit, "Hold him down please. I'll disinfect the tools then we can pull the pellets out."

"Yay..."

Murdock almost shot up as soon as the sterilized tweezers pushed through the skin. Mary Jane held him down and resisted the urge to smother his mouth to keep him from groaning. She watched with morbid fascination as Maggie pulled out the pellets one by one and dropped them on a nearby basin. She didn't even try to look away. It depressed her somewhat that the first thing she felt was a morbid sense of humor at the sight. Crimson had fucked her up and she didn't really care anymore.

**_'You love me, little red.'_ **

_'...Parasite.'_

She ignored its impotent screams and pushed Murdock down to the bed as Maggie dropped out another pellet, "That's the last one." She breathed heavily wrapped a bandage around his midsection. It was odd seeing a nun so good with tweezers and bandages, "Hmm..." She put a hand on his forehead and frowned, "Fever. I told Matthew not to push his body too hard. He never listens to me."

Mary Jane almost laughed. She was acting like Murdock wasn't a former Kingpin turned vigilante who helped her kill an entire building full of people, "I'll need to buy more supplies and get medicine. Could you stay here? I don't want to leave him alone."

The words 'hell no' were at the tip of her tongue before she saw the look of fatigue on the older woman's face, "...Sure." So sue her she wasn't completely heartless. Mary Jane huffed and sat at the nearby chair, placing one foot at the edge of the bed as she shifted Crimson to the same outfit she wore before. It was nothing special, but she knew it'd make her look harmless; exactly what she needed for Dan and his cronies to think.

10 minutes of merciful quiet passed before Murdock shot up with a flurry of coughs, "Easy there, Daredevil." She made no move to actually push him back down. If he wanted to tear out those bandages then that was on him.

He tapped the wall to his right twice then heaved a sigh of relief, "Hm." He lied back down and stared up at the ceiling, milky eyes unblinking. He looked like a hot mess - blood on his skin and hair, bandages clotted and skin so pale he looked like a ghost. She breathed in slowly through her nose and brought a hand through her hair, trying to ignore the smell of blood and disinfectant in the air.

She was hungry.

"Anything to eat around here?"

"Maggie keeps perishables in the rightmost cabinet. You can probably find a few twinkies there."

**_'We're not desperate for chocolate like Stacy's tether.'_ **

_'Food's food.'_

She got the bars and, just cause she was nice, made sure to grab one for him, "Head's up." She was mildly impressed when his right hand shot up and caught the thrown bar, "Your mom went out to get meds." She sat back down and opened the first pack. Nut flavored, her least favorite, "FYI she said you had a fever too."

"Yes, that would explain the coughs and chills." Or maybe it was the gaping hole in his gut. Either or, "I have to thank you for bringing me here."

"Can't die yet. You still have that list."

"Ah but of course. A mutual need." He laughed quickly before he suddenly coughed again. She saw him spit out blood, "I suppose this is my own fault. Maggie'd warned me that pushing beyond my limits so soon would only end badly."

"Mhm." Where the hell was the nun of the hour anyway?

"I'm curious about something. Would you answer my question?"

"Just spit it out."

"Why the charade?" She didn't reply, "I'll admit your plan to pretend to be an agent to not-reformed Kingpin was clever, but there were too many ways it could've failed. If this Fancy Dan hadn't been so blinded by pride, and his companions with lust, they would've pried deeper into your story."

"I doubt it. From what I heard from Gwen you were exactly the kind of fucked up asshole who'd make people pay back gambling debts by making them run errands."

"Give me some credit, Ms. Watson. I do have a sense of pragmatism." He laughed. She didn't, "Though, I suppose I can't fault you for your course of action. You had to save your father, after all."

"You think I did it to save that waste of skin?"

"Alright, riddle me this then: why bother with the charade?"

"Uh, to find out where his boss was? He didn't exactly advertise his place."

"So why not make the offer after your father expired? It certainly would've saved us the trouble of having to procure funds." She didn't reply, "Or why not simply cut out the middleman and simply follow Mr. Brito back to his boss? It would've taken longer, certainly, but we're both adept enough in tracking that it would've been less risky than a gamble that might well put the entire gang under a lockdown."

Again, no answer.

"I suppose you leaving him in that alley was a way for you to deny this thought. If he dies then it's not your fault but if he survives then he will have learned his lesson-"

"Shut up." Her hands clenched into tight fists, "You think I did to to save him? I already tried that. Again and again and  _again_. Every time he just goes back." She scowled and looked away, "This doesn't change anything. If he survives he's gonna pick himself back up and once he can walk again he'll find another bookie to get into debt with. And next time I won't save him."

"But you saved him this time."

"Yeah, and I'm sure that makes up for me killing a building full of people. Gimme the key to the city, huh?" She sneered down at him, "Know what, let's turn this around: what the hell's your deal? Cause I don't buy for a second that you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart."

"Do recall that half the bodies in that building are because of me. Goodness hardly factors into it." He took a deep breath and, with some effort, managed to sit up. Mary Jane didn't bother to push him down, "I'm well beyond the point of redemption, Ms. Watson. I'm going to hell, I've known that for years and I accept it. I'm simply trying to drag as many people down with me."

"Jesus..." Mary Jane brought hand down her face and took a deep breath. Why did she almost get where he was coming from?

"Misery loves company, or so the saying goes." He laughed under his breath, "The better question would be why you're doing this. According to Ms. Stacy's posts on social media she's trying to mold you into a Superhero. Why jeopardize that and go on this baseless crusade?"

"Baseless cru- those bastards sold a little girl and god knows how many people!"

"So it was for justice, then? Fighting for the nameless masses that would no doubt be horrified by your actions tonight?" No response, "Even as we talk now thousands of people suffer the same indignities Madelyn Turner had. That's the thing about justice - always so hard to enforce when free will gets involved."

"I didn't come here to debate. I did what I did, there's no point thinking about it."

"Hm...I wonder if Ms. Stacy would feel the same if she knew."She almost lashed out and cut his throat. Murdock looked down at her clawed hands and smiled wryly, "If you kill me now I won't fight; I'm incapable of it."

"I need you alive, remember?"

"So you do. You and Peter both are stuck in rather undesirable positions." For a second he looked disappointed. ...Must've just been her imagination, "Well, I suppose we'll see each other soon. This list is rather...extensive."

"Really wasn't planning to make this a partnership..." She could kill well enough on her own. She didn't need his help.

"We don't always get what we want." She was about to retort with something biting when he slowly twisted his head to the door, "My warden is coming to check on me. I suggest you take your leave."

The door opened and someone who most definitely wasn't Maggie Murdock stepped into the room. Mary Jane stood and backed away warily as Karen Page took slow, measured steps to the bed, "Bedridden again, Matthew?"

"You know me, Karen. I love to disappoint."

The blonde's eyes shifted from one redhead to the other. Mary Jane stiffened as the district attorney's gaze washed over her fully. It was like she was being judged. She knew there was  _something_  up with her, but not exactly what. Peter was tight lipped about it for some reason, "You're Ms. Watson, correct? A pleasure to finally meet you." She smiled, almost but not quite reaching her eyes. Like someone trying to be friendly but didn't know how, "You my thanks for watching out for this idiot."

"You wound me, Karen."

"From what I see you don't need help in that regard." She sighed, "I'll watch over him. You may leave."

It was brief, but she saw a look pass Murdock's face. He didn't want her to go; didn't want to be alone with the D.A, "Sure, thanks." Mary Jane paid it no mind and walked out, shifting herself a jacket over her tanktop. Whatever drama the two had was none of her business. She had enough troubles of her own without adding some kind of twisted love affair between the D.A and the former Kingpin.

She found herself walking down a familiar route. Gwen buzzed her phone but she didn't answer; didn't know what to say to her now, ** _'Let's find something more substantial to eat,'_  **Crimson said suddenly.

Mary Jane didn't bother arguing and beelined for the closest corner store, "Good eveni- Oh, Mary Jane." Mary smiled slightly when they made eye contact.

"Yeah, hey." Mary Jane smiled back as best she could and started packing whatever food she could afford; which was a lot. She kinda had twenty grand burning a hole in her pocket now.

She stepped up to the counter and Mary frowned, "Are you okay? You look kinda sick."

_'Yeah, totally fine. Just hating myself for the fact that I'm so fucked up that I don't hate myself.'_  Mary Jane plastered on a grin and shrugged, "Just one of those days. Surprised you're still here. Modeling gig not paying enough?"

"Money's money. Need all I can to pay up that mounting student loan."

"Heh, yeah, I get your-"

The next few seconds passed by in a quick blur. She remembered a guy in a balaclava kicking down the door and pointing a gun to their heads. She remembered Mary screaming and putting her hands up. She remembered being too slow to do the same and the bastard shooting her in the side. And then...

And then the bastard was over the counter and Mary Jane was wailing on his face.

She didn't know how long it was before she stopped, but eventually she had enough and tossed the guy to a nearby shelf hard enough to almost break it in half, "...Damn it." She turned around quickly to the other redhead. Mary's eyes were wide and both hands covered her mouth, "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." She took a deep, shaky breath and looked at Mary Jane's right side. The side that was conspicuously missing a bullet hole and blood, "H-How did you..."

"I, uh...I was there when the Terrigen thing hit," she said quickly. It wasn't the best excuse, but it made sense, "I've been trying to keep it on the downlow. Didn't wanna make a big deal out of it, you know?"

"O-Oh..." Mary eyed the unconscious would-be robber.

"So...this is kinda awkward, but could you maybe delete the tapes? I don't wanna advertise I'm packing."

"Don't worry about it, those cameras don't work." She finally managed to regain some semblance of calm, "Do you need me to call an ambulance?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm fine. See?" She raised her shirt to show off the very-much uninjured skin, "Does come with some perks."

**_'You're welcome.'_ **

"I see..."

"Uh, I'll pay for that shelf." She took two grand and put it on the counter, "I should...I should go, okay? Make sure to call the cops!"

And then she ran out before Mary could say anything. The smaller redhead frowned at the mess and made sure to call 911 after nudging the gun out of arms reach. She wasn't worried; the guy didn't look like he was going anywhere for a while.

She made her way to the backroom and checked the security tapes. She lied; the cameras worked just fine, "She's one of the Gifted." She looked over the footage. Despite having lived through it just minutes prior watching the video Mary Jane still looked surreal. She didn't even look like she noticed the bullet and she manhandled the masked man without any effort whatsoever. Super strength and durability, at least.

_...It wasn't fair._

Shaking her head, she made a copy for herself before deleting the rest. If the boss asked she'd just say it was a glitch. He wouldn't care, "Mary Jane's one of the Gifted..." she repeated. Her new friend had saved the day while she just stood there screaming and crying.

And once again in her life Mary MacPherran felt small.

* * *

**CHOOOCOLLLATTTEEE!** : Been hearing rumors that  **Spider-Man**  and  **Spider-Woman**  broke up.

**Reply from TOS:** Gee, I wonder if this is any different than the other ten thousand rumors that they broke up /s

**Reply from Foolkiller:** Apparently people saw her getting really close to  **Will-o** **-the-Wisp** earlier. Still not sure if it's anything, though.

**Reply from TOS:** Gonna press X to Doubt that one. Fanboys/Fangirls/Fanothers always looking for an excuse to think Spider-Woman's free. It's pretty sad.

**Reply from MbNbKb:**  Yeah, doubting here too. If she stayed with him after one year then I'm pretty sure they're good.

**Reply from CHOOOCOLLLATTTEEE!** : Uh...just got a hit from Spider-Woman's latest tweet.  **-embedded link-**

_[ **FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman** : Yes, the rumors are true. Me and Spider-Man are no longer together. No, I don't wanna talk about it.]_

**Reply from TOS:**  ...Well shit, now I owe Gayle 50 bucks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said up above the next chapter will focus more on Gwen and Lana and, hopefully, be lighter in tone. If I have enough room I might be able to squeeze in a quick segment of Noir having to deal with Satanna wanting him to investigate a succubus brothel for her now that he's newly single. As expected, Gwen is not amused.
> 
> Question:
> 
> 1\. So since people want a date chapter it feels appropriate to ask what kind of date you guys wanna read about. I already did carnival and camping trip so let's pull a few more from the cliche list:
> 
> \- Casual date to the movies
> 
> \- Beach trip (though this is more of a group outing)
> 
> \- Webflicks and chill
> 
> \- Dinner date at a fancy restaurant
> 
> \- Patrolling as partners
> 
> \- Threesome with Mary Jane
> 
> ...Okay not that last one, but you get my point. Pick from the list or suggest your own cause I'm not good with this romance stuff.


	24. Better to have loved and lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again for people reading both this and Two Spiders - I will update that eventually, but it's gonna be slower since I'm not so used to writing lighthearted stuff. So please be patient and asking me if I abandoned that fic. I didn't, I just have a hard time updating at the moment. Maybe watching Marvel Rising: Battle of the Bands will give me ideas.
> 
> And yes I heard about the Spider-Man MCU debacle. I have some thoughts on it but I don't really mind all that much. So far I'm just taking a wait-and-see approach.
> 
> Also, I've gotten some reviews indicating that MJ has more screentime than the rest of the protagonists. I have to disagree. I'd say she's about on par with Peter and Gwen and above Cindy and Lana; though even in the case of Cindy it's debatable. Still, I'll take it into consideration.
> 
> So without further ado, here's the break-up chapter.

**DragonKiller75:** Any M&M fans, what do you guys think are the actual alignments of the heroes?

**Reply from DragonDeesNuts:**  Isn't there an alignment list on the third page?

**Reply from DragonKiller75** **:** Yeah but that just lists all the Avengers as Lawful Good, which I doubt they really are. I mean I'd say  **Spider-Woman's**  defo Neutral Good considering her stint as a vigilante and her relationship with Spider-Man.

**Reply from Sug_Madic:**  Hmm, I'd say  **Hawkeye** and  **Striker**  counts as Chaotic Good then. Way too many times arguing with the cops about proper procedure.  **Spider-Man** is either Neutral or Chaotic Good.

**Reply from Phil-McCrackin:**  Nah, I'd say he and any other Defenders are Neutral at best. Maybe not Striker though since she got out.

**Reply from IceWallowCome:** I think really only Captain America, Wasp and She-Hulk count as Lawful Good. Spider-Woman and  **Spinerette**  are friends with a vigilante while Hawkeye is off doing her own thing most of the time.

**Reply from Come_Stayin:**  I think this is pointless. Real people can't just be defined by arbitrary alignments on a point. I mean Spider-Woman helped stopped us from being nuked. Does that mean if she kills less people than she saved she never changes alignment cause it balances out?

**Reply from DragonDeesNuts:**  I dunno man, I didn't make the topic.

**Reply from thisisausername:**  Okay off topic but the WTF is with these usernames?

**Reply from P3N15:**  Dunno what you're talking about.

* * *

"Ladies and gentleman. We're gathered here today for a very important reason."

Gwen looked at all the gathered people in the room. Most of them had expression of utter boredom apart from MJ (who still looked confused on the whole thing) and Peter (who honestly just looked tired of the whole thing). Lana and Cindy were on their phones, texting and calling someone respectively, while Norah typed on her laptop without even a cursory glance upwards.

Rude.

"Helloooo." She clapped her hands loudly. They  _finally_  looked up from their tech. Jess probably would've rolled her eyes and made a comment about millenials cause she was an old woman in a 30 something body, "Everybody paying attention?"

"To what? All you said was, and I quote, 'get your asses over here I need your help to play black widow," Cindy said dryly, "And as someone who knows the actual Black Widow, I gotta tell ya I'm not liking your chances. Not unless you decide catsuits and pistols are your thing."

"I think she means she needs to seduce someone," Lana said, "I think her chances of that are even worse than her going superspy. No offense, Pete, but you ain't exactly the hardest to get to spread your legs open. You're kind of a slut."

Peter rolled his eyes and and almost gave her the middle finger. Almost. He was always too polite for stuff like that, in Gwen's opinion, "I still think this plan's moronic. If this Roxxon guy's the one who put the bounty on my head then just gimme and address and a few hours to get a vibranium bullet from one of Castle's safehouses. Won't take more than a day tops."

"You know Frank doesn't like you borrowing his stuff without asking." Norah hummed.

"I'd ask but I don't know his number. Funnily enough the man with a four digit body count doesn't like to advertise," Peter said.

"Okay, enough," Gwen said quickly. She still didn't like talking about that prick, "I told you last night, Peter, it's not just about the bounty. He's got people caught in experiments-" Cindy's mouth curled into a frown at that, "-and I need him to tell me where that is. He can't tell us anything if he's dead." And, you know, it was wrong to just assassinate people. There were were always... _almost_  always other options.

"Fine, gimme a week and I'll get him talking."

"We're not torturing him either, Peter." Gwen sighed and rubbed her temples.

"I dunno, is trying to seduce the guy really a better option?" MJ asked.

"I don't like it either, but it's a better shot than hooking up his balls to a car battery."

"You know doing that isn't actually very conductive?" Cindy said, pun fully intended cause she was a weirdo like that, "The pain and shock would make them too delirious. Emotional blackmail is really where it's at. People can train to ignore their fingernails being ripped out but when you tell them you know where their kid or their girlfriend or their money is they cave. Or you can go for the fear response. Widow taught me a trick where you cut your own finger and bleed into the guy's face while talking about how disappointed you are. It makes em think 'if she's doing that to herself what the hell is she gonna do to me?'"

A heavy silence settled over the room,"...Have I ever told you how much you scare me?" Gwen asked, only half joking. She knew the other Spider's past was twisted, and the training from S.H.I.E.L.D and her 'care' under her evil twin didn't help, but it still disturbed her sometimes how quickly she could go from making horrible puns and griping about video games to discussing the right ways to break a man down to his basest nature, to use her words.

"Just twice a couple days ago. I find your lack of fear disturbing." Was that a reference to something? "Being serious for a bit, if we're really going with the black widow route why don't you let me handle it? No offense Gwen but I gotta agree with Lana. You don't seem like you're gonna be good at this kind of thing."

"That's the thing: I don't have to be." The older Spider raised a brow and silently urged her to continue, "I met with Cap's not-really-a-friend and he said that he...ugh, he has an 'admiration' for Spider-Woman." Even just saying it out loud made her sick. The thought of that asshole making kissy faces at her posters almost made her retch, "And I spent time with him yesterday to test the waters. Yeah...it was bad."

"How bad?" Lana asked.

Gwen gave the younger Super a dead serious look, "Frog-Man."

"Ah." Her mouth parted slightly in understanding and she nodded, "You have my sympathies."

"Thank you." Gwen nodded back, equally taciturn.

"...Okay, I feel like I'm missing something. Who's Frog-Man and why are we using him as a unit of measurement?" MJ asked.

"Let's just say this guy wasn't exactly subtle. He's been asking to team up for weeks new and me never answering didn't stop him. He even used the SOS function three times. I fell for each one cause I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. Turns out he strung up some muggers and thought it'd impress me and show how 'heroic and humble' he was for doing it without asking for even a thank you."

"O...kay? That doesn't sound so-"

"And he spent last night's team-up 'subtly' telling me how much better he'd be as a boyfriend compared to Peter. Why would I choose someone so crude and thuggish and violent and bla bla and he was so much better cause he has a company and he has more powers and yak yak yak. And the second I didn't stand up for Peter he took it as a cue to start calling him a fucking Supervillain who deserves nothing but the chair. If It wasn't for Webster I would've banged my head against the wall."

"This guy sounds like a bag of charm." Peter sneered, "I still think my way's a good idea."

"Even on the chance we get the location from him your way he's already got the cash in some kind of slush account. We can't be sure that killing him - which again  _I don't want to do_ if we can help it - will stop new people from taking the bounty."

"Then let em come. That Arcade bastard was just a fluke. We'll be ready next time."

"How about no and please don't dare people to kill you?" Gwen snarked.

"I gotta agree with Gwen," Cindy said, "The last thing we need in New York is a carnival of costumed killers running around gunning for you. Next thing you know they'll be putting innocent people in danger to try and lure you out. I know you'd fall for that."

"...Point." Peter pursed his lips.

"Look, this'll work. I already have a team-up planned with him tomorrow and I tweeted that the two of us 'broke up' last night. Speaking of, how's it going?" she asked Norah.

"Looking good so far," the other blonde said, "Lot of assholes going on and on about how they 'knew this was gonna happen'. Most of em are shitting on Ben, but there's a pretty good chunk that aren't fans of you. A lot of it is calling you an 'uptight bad word' and that he's better off without you 'dragging him down'. And those are are some of the more polite ones. You don't wanna see the ones accusing you of being racist...somehow."

"Eh." Gwen shrugged. She'd given up on the idea of ever pleasing everyone. There were still people who unironically followed Jameson or thought Cap was in on H.Y.D.R.A and just faked Red Skull's death. That wasn't even getting to the Superhero Truthers who argued up and down that Superheroes were just paid actors and that everything from evil Cindy to the Skrull invasion was a government experiment of some kind.

Nevermind the fact that alien spaceships came down on Manhattan and how they couldn't explain just how the government was able to make said alien spaceships if it really was some kind of cover-up.

"Let's get down to business, alright? I promised Aracely I'd take her out," Lana said, "Why'd you call us all over here, Spider-Gwen?"

"Well..." Gwen looked down and frowned. Saying it out loud was just embarrassing, "You were kinda right that I don't really know how to, uh, seduce a guy. So I was kinda hoping you, Cindy and MJ could help me out with it."

"...Should I comment on how sad it is that you're asking someone 4 years younger than you for advice on that or do we just let it hang?" Lana asked flatly.

"Hey if you don't wanna be here then fuck off. This is embarrassing enough as it is," Gwen said, cheeks an annoying shade of red. Yes, she knew exactly how embarrassing this all was, but she didn't have a choice. It was either this or ripping out fingernails.

"Wait, this doesn't make any sense," MJ said, "You've been on dates before, Gwencent. I've seen you flirting with guys too."

"Yeah, but that was when I was Gwen Stacy! If I wanted to chat a guy up I'd go to a club or invite him to one of our concerts or something. I can't do that as Spider-Woman cause fuck if I'm gonna give that asshole a hint of who I am."

"So you need to put on a persona. Seduce him as the Amazing Spider-Woman?" Cindy asked. Gwen nodded, "Hm...makes things a bit more complicated, but it should be possible. You've read your own comic books so play into that."

"You mean that billionaire heiress crock?" Peter scoffed, "Gwen's about as much of that as I'm a priest. No offense, Gwen."

"None taken, honey. You'll just pay for that later." She winked.

"Ugh, could you save that shit for when we're not here?" Lana rolled her eyes, "Cin's right though. If this guy's anything like Tony Stark or Justin Hammer then he's a prick who thinks money buys everything and makes up for their tiny dicks. Having a billionaire model on his arm with superpowers is probably making him hard right now."  _That_  wasn't a pleasant image.

"Preferably it would be best if we got a dossier on him. Then we can tweak your persona to his preferences." Cindy put a hand on her chin, "Actually that can come later. I suggest buttering him up slowly. Just slip a few secrets here and there and when I think of a strategy you he'll think it's cause his 'charm' is working on you. That'll make him cocky, and that's when you can start prying secrets."

MJ spoke next, "Uh...I'm not a superspy or anything, but aren't we forgetting something really important here? Gwen's a freaking Superhero! If this guy is really kidnapping people and doing human experiments Nazi style then he's not just going to go confessing to Gwen. More likely he's going to just pretend to be a superhero and the second she starts prying he'll know something's up."

"Please. Pricks like this guy are too confident to think like that." Lana snorted, "What seems more likely, he thinks Spider-Gwen here is some kind of spy or that his dick is so huge and amazing that she'll give up everything to munch on that sausage?"

"Could we please stop talking about dicks and pricks and sausages? I'm trying to focus here." Norah said, still not looking up from her computer. That was the reason she brought her here. Norah knew about manipulating social media more than any of them and if they wanted to sell how legit this thing was then they needed to be sure there wasn't any room for doubt for people to think this was just a temporary split.

"Sorry, Nor." Lana rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Mary does have a point, but it's a risk we'll have to take," Cindy said, "Despite everything no one really knows who the true Spider-Woman is. If you let slip that you feel resentful of being a hero and that you aren't as 'pure' as everyone thinks you are then you can reel him in. Here's one - those two years where you kept being a hero even after you got branded a criminal? Just make some comments about everyone being ungrateful and that the only reason you kept it up was because you wanted to prove them wrong. Makes you look less like a saint."

"I still think this is gonna blow up in our faces..." Mary Jane muttered.

"If Gwen's method doesn't work then we'll go with Pete's." Gwen was about to protest when Cindy cut her off, "This guy is kidnapping people, Gwen. Dozens of families have lost parents and kids because of him. If you can't get this information or he's too slow to give it then we're not going to wait till he takes more victims just because we want the soft gloves. Clear?"

"...Clear." Gwen breathed out deeply.

"Good. Now, here's the big question: are you willing to sleep with this guy?"

The resounding silence was so deep you could hear a pin drop. Norah stopped typing and looked between Gwen and Cindy while everyone else just waited for the blonde's reply. Gwen bit her lower lip and answered shakily, "Um, wh-what?"

"Are you willing to sleep with him?" Cindy repeat, either unaware or uncaring of the way everyone stared at her, "It's not a hard question, Gwen. Yes or no?"

"Um...what?" She said again.

Cindy sighed and crossed one leg over the other in a clear sign of impatience, "Gwen, you are planning to  _seduce_  this guy. Now maybe I'm wrong since I haven't read his dossier yet, but generally type A personalities like CEO's don't settle for just kisses; if you even planned to go that far." Her eyes narrowed at the other Spider's last words. The way she said it was a mix of condescending and exasperated.

"What the hell's your damage, Cin?"

"My 'damage' is that you tell me this guy's probably responsible for the case I've spent the better part of a couple of months investigating  _and failing to stop_  but your only plan has so many holes I could drive a Death Star through it." Cindy stared up at her steely, "I'm willing to help you here, Gwen, but you can't half-ass this thing and expect touching his arm will get him to confess his secrets. Are you willing to do what it takes, yes or no? Because if not let's cut the knot and go with Pete's idea."

"I..." She looked towards Peter and found him stubbornly looking at the floor with an unreadable expression, though occasional flashes of frustration peeked through. It wasn't like she hadn't acknowledged the possibility of it, but a part of her had just assumed (hoped) that it wouldn't go that far. She wasn't a spy like Cindy and the thought of giving that shiny slimeball anything was...

"Let's just forget about this and-"

"Yes," Gwen said, cutting off Peter's statement, "Just thinking about it wants to make me hurl, but...we need to be sure that the people he's taken can be found."

"How are you so sure this is going to work?" Peter asked. She could tell he didn't want to think about 'what she had to do' anymore than she did.

"I'm not, but how are you so sure tying him to a chair will work any better?" she asked back, "This guy's probably the only chance we'll have to make sure the price on your head's gone and we can get these people out. If he dies you'll have a price on your head for God knows how long and these people are fucked."

"If it was just the bounty then maybe an interrogation would work, but what if we kidnap him and strap him to a chair?" Cindy asked, "You don't think the guys he has working for him won't realize something's up and move? Or just scrub the whole thing down, witnesses included? Guys who perform illegal experiments always have contingencies. It's standard M.O."

"Uh, am I missing something or is all of this completely fucking pointless?" Lana said, "This guy isn't personally kidnapping people, right? So let's just go after the rest of these assholes and make em tell us where they're putting people."

"I already tried to interrogate that Pyro guy," Cindy grimaced, "Said the same thing over and over: just got his info from a dead drop and they were planning to drop off Aracely to another one for pick-up. No names and the location he gave was just an abandoned parking garage. We checked over there and didn't see anything so that trail's cold."

"What about any scientists? They're the ones doing these experiments," Peter asked.

"Unless you're psychic I don't see how that's an option," Cindy put a hand on her chin, "Actually we don't even need an exact location from this guy. If Gwen can get him to spill some names then we can start our search there."

"If you get any names I can help with that." Norah raised her right hand briefly before quickly going back to her typing.

"Huh, maybe Gwen doesn't have to sleep with this guy. Just get him drunk enough and he might spill," MJ said.

"Might be a bit hard. He mentioned yesterday he found it harder to get drunk because of his new powers." Meanwhile she got smashed after three cans of beer. Some people just had all the luck.

"We'll shelve it for now but keep it on hand," Cindy said, "Okay, so first things first you're gonna need to learn how to read tics. I can help with that. Mary Jane and Lana would probably be better if you wanna learn how to..."

The rest of the day was spent with Gwen learning more about flirting than she ever wanted to do with. When to touch, when not to touch, the little gestures to make a guy think she was putty in his hands. Everything. She had to admit some of it was intriguing, but for the most part she found herself almost falling asleep. What the hell was the difference between a half turn look and a full turn look? Apparently it changed  _everything_ , if you could trust MJ.

That night she and Peter were in bed together and she couldn't sleep. Gwen looked up at the ceiling while Peter slept next to her, her head swirling with all the advice from today's lesson. Tomorrow was the day they'd 'officially' break up. It wouldn't change anything - they could still spent time outside of their masks - but it still made her feel like she had a weight on her chest.

Webster being quiet didn't help matters. Ever since yesterday she hadn't said anything, which Wasp said was expected considering their condition but ut still unnerved her. Gwen was so used to her chiming in, to her partner always being there, that the solitude suddenly felt suffocating even with Peter at her side.

"...You okay, Gwen?" She didn't jump at the sudden voice anymore. She'd gotten used to it.

"Yeah, it's just..." She shifted to her side so she could face him, "All this is kinda going over my head, you know? With Evil Cindy or Red Skull or whatever you could just punch em and let the law sort it out. This...hiding and pretending that I'm in love with this guy because we need the information he has...it's not something I'm used to. And if I fuck up it's your and everyone else's head on the line."

"You don't have to worry about me-"

"Stop saying that." She closed her eyes and balled her hands shakily, "I know the stuff we do everyday is dangerous, but that doesn't mean I have to like you having a price on your head. Trust me, living with dad means I know what it's like to have someone you love with a dangerous life, but that doesn't mean I'd take it lying down if some wannabe kingpin put a price on his head either."

"Yeah..." There silence between them for almost a minute, "I know it must've been difficult seeing that bastard's 'game'-"

"It's not just that." She shook her head and sat up, the blanket falling to her lap to expose her bare chest, "We live dangerous lives. We get shot at by idiots with guns and Supervillains crawl out of whatever hole they come from to 'spell our doom'. Fine. But you...I mean, do I even have to say anything about you hanging out with Murderdock? Or your friend Bullseye coming back from the freaking dead?"

"I didn't exactly want either of those to happen, Gwen..." He sat up too and sighed, "I know this isn't ideal. I wouldn't be spending time with Matt if it wasn't for Bullseye-"

"Why do you keep calling him that?" She asked suddenly, "He's not your friend."

"I didn't say he was."

"Why so friendly with the nickname? What happened to 'Murdock'?"

"His name doesn't matter." She looked to the left slightly and caught the hint of fatigue in his expression, "I could call him a blind bastard, it doesn't change what he is or where he's going." Yeah, straight down to hell. She would've found it more satisfying if the that smug asshole wasn't so damn  _happy_  about it. Apparently the idea of getting pitchforks up his ass was funny to him, "You don't have to worry about Matt and Bullseye. I'll deal with them both."

"Mmm." He didn't answer the name thing but didn't bother to say anything. She trusted him.

"...Are you sure about this, Gwen?" he asked softly.

"Fuck no," She laughed, soft and bitter, "Honestly it makes my skin crawl. But...making sure he doesn't have a price on your head and that he's not kidnapping any more people, I think it's worth it. Are you...angry?" It was a stupid question. She was fake breaking up with him to try and play black widow and, if things got really desperate, she might have had to sleep with the guy. Nothing about this would lead him to say anything but yes.

"No." He took a slow breath, "The thought of that bastard putting a hand on you makes my blood boil, but I trust you. It's just..." He grit his teeth, "I just wish I could do something."

"We can't risk those people, Peter. The only way this is going to work is if he doesn't realize we're onto him." Stupid villains with their stupid backup plans. Even Red Skull had his heart wired to a bunch of nuclear salvos, though thankfully Wasp and Cindy managed to disable it. Least Evil Cindy was straightforward.

"The second you you can't take it any more I want you to run, alright? We'll find some other way to help those people and get rid of the price on my head. Promise me."

"I promise."

Gwen kissed him again and pushed him down to the bed, "Again?" She hummed and stuck both his hands above his head with a quick burst of webbing. Super agility and webbing meant experimentation was pretty much inevitable. She kissed him again then flipped up to the wall, taking the blanket with her to expose him completely. She was going to pretend tomorrow wasn't happening.

* * *

**Aholiconic:** So this whole break up thing between Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. Anyone else think it's BS?

**Reply from Ardenex:** I dunno man. They've had their arguments before.

**Reply from Axionsu:** Yeah but it's still hard to believe considering all the kissy faces they make. My guess is it's just a quick argument then they'll just patch it up quickly. Nothing to be bothered with.

**Reply from Number1SpiderManFan:** I hope it's legit. Save some for the rest of us, Spider-Woman!

**Reply from EPFrog:** Well...it's not like every relationship lasts. I guess it makes sense that they broke up at some point.

**No1SpiderWomanFan:** Not gonna hear me complaining.

**Reply from BriefingThin:** Lol I love how SpiderWomans fanboys and fangirls think just cause she's broken up that now they have a chance. Yes because clearly you being nothing special and still living in your mom's basement isn't the reason a Superhero wouldnt give you the time of day. Its all SpiderMans fault. SMH at this stupidity.

**Reply from CooledSlash:** Dude no need to be a dick. Also, respect the hyphen!

* * *

"Are you ready?" Norah's voice chimed in her ear.

"Yeah..." Gwen swung down to the nearby apartment building rooftop and started pacing. The plan was for her and Peter to fake a breakup and for Norah to oh so conveniently record them midway into their fight - the final nail to the proverbial coffin. The other blonde was doing a story (something about building ventilation standards) not too far away and it would give her an alibi if people asked where she got the video.

"You alright?" Norah asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." That was only the first in the big pile of bullshit she'd have to spew today. God, she really missed Webster right now, "Just make sure get this rolling. We only have one shot at this.

Lana had taught her everything she needed to know to stage a convincing break up,  _"First things first go for the balls and don't stop squeezing till there's nothing but mush. You want this guy to think things are **over**  between you and Pete so go for the cheapshots." _And then a bunch of other stuff that Gwen honestly didn't want to recall cause it involved various euphemisms for castration. That girl was something else.

"Heads up, Ben's on the way."

Peter stopped his bike and zipped up to the rooftop. Gwen took a deep breath and got into character, "You're late..." She crossed her arm and tapped her foot like every impatient ex ever.

"I was busy helping someone. Not sure you remember what that's like from that fancy tower of yours." She winced at the blunt insult. Peter had preemptively apologized beforehand for anything he said and she knew it wasn't his. Norah had dug up the biggest criticisms people had - some legit, most not - and handed them a list to read. He had his and she had her own.

Case in point.

"Helping? Is that what you call it? I thought you were just beating up thugs in the gutters like you always did." She tried her best to make it sound like she was sneering under her mask. Mostly she sounded like she had a stomach ache, "God, a few weeks into the city and you're right back to where you started. I thought a year away would change things for you."

"And I thought you selling out to the Avengers changed you. Turns out I was right." 'Selling out'? She almost broke character then and there to tell him off. That sounded way too unnatural, "Why are you even still here? Come to lord over the people below and grace them with the presence of the oh-so great Spider-Woman?"

The script Norah gave them was basic. Peter would accuse her of being egotistical and up her own ass and she'd accuse him of just being in it to hurt people. According to her this was the most common debate their 'fans' had about them.

"Least I'm helping people. When was the last time you got through a day without killing someone?" She sighed, so loud and dramatic that it was a miracle no one else came up to check, "Look, I wanted to be friends after we broke up but if you're just gonna act like this-"

"Friends? With you?" He clicked his tongue, "Yeah, like I really need another noose around my neck. You were bad enough before, I don't even wanna think about how annoying you'll be now that you're pent-up." Wow...rude. She knew Norah told them to add their own personal flair but still.

"Oh please, you act like you were doing me any favors. Practically had to do everything myself." They were going a bit off-script now. Both Norah and Cindy said it'd be a good idea and that it'd make the argument look more organic, "And do you have any idea how frustrating it is to talk to you? Every time it feels like I'm talking to a wall. Would it kill you to show any emotion besides angsty brooding once in a while?"

"That's rich coming from the woman who won't shut up about how great she is. How's it feel to have Stars and Stripes pulling your strings? Feel better now that you don't have to see what you cause?"

"No, I am not going to get shit on by the guy who ran around with the fucking Punisher and killed a demon mostly by accident!" That was actually somewhat painful to say. Even if he wasn't proud of it his team-ups with Punisher and Bullseye were still a sore spot for her; and, according to Norah's findings, some vocal chunks of New York, "God, do you have any idea how annoying you sound? You're so...so..." She paused. Shit, she forgot her next argument.

"Gwen, you're slipping here. Hurry up." Norah chimed in.

Seeing her hesitation, Peter quickly tried to bail her out, "You trying to spare my feelings or what?" He scoffed, "Why don't you skip to the part where we stop pretending you wanted to be friends? Here, lemme start."

And then he punched her in the face. It wasn't hard...or maybe it was; hard to tell nowadays considering her state. Still, it did the trick. Gwen feigned a slight stumble and then punched him back, making sure to lighten the blow. Peter let himself fall on his back and raised his right hand to his face with a hiss. No blood. Not like last time.

"Guess that makes it clear." He stood up shakily, "You stay the hell away from he, 'hero', and I'll do the same."

"Hey, we're not done here!" She grabbed his wrist and he nodded by just the smallest amount before his fist lashed out and hit her square in the jaw. This was the second part of their plan - make it clear that the break-up wasn't amicable in the least. It'd make Peter's life harder, but it would also help sell the idea to Roxxon that there was no love lost between them.

Peter twisted, kicked her in the chest then disappeared in a wisp of smoke. Gwen made a show of punching the air and trying to web the space around her before letting out a frustrated scream, "Alright, I think we're good." Norah said, "Nice touch on the scream there."

Gwen internally sighed with relief and swung away. Now she just had to wait. Cindy suggested they let Roxxon and the public stew for a couple of days, let them make their own theories so the effects of the break-up would fester. After that Roxxon would come running and she'd be the shoulder for him to cry on. It was so cliche she almost wanted to throw up.

The rest of the day was spent in patrol with her playing the role of the jilted ex. She didn't make any jokes, refused to answer questions when paparazzi (parasites) badgered her and looked for all the world like she hated and Spider-Man had ended any chance of reconciliation.

The sun was long down by the time she stopped to take a breath. Gwen swung up to the top of a high building, only half paying attention to her phone for her daily internet check. Apparently someone had the bright idea to start a PleasePayMe run so he could be a Superhero (only 5 dollars raised so far), but apart from that and the usual gossip about her new relationship troubles there was nothing much to draw her attention.

She was almost tempted to call Peter before a pain in her stomach made her double over in pain. Her phone clattered to the ground and she desperately peeled back the mask just in time to avoid throwing up inside it.

**_'Gwen.'_ **

_'Webster? What's going on?'_  And where the hell had she been?

**_'I...believe we are about to give birth. I suggest we go to Wasp. Now.'_ **

* * *

**AllNaturalSyntheticFakeOriginal: -embedded link-**  Norah Winters from the Front Line just posted up a video on the news blog. Looks like it's legit:  **Spider-Woman**  and  **Spider-Man**  aren't friends anymore.

**Reply from KingdomHeartsIsDARKNESSSSS:**  Understatement there dude. Damn, they're throwing punches now. Must've been one nasty breakup.

**Reply from Kingoftherealm:**  Damn. There goes my Two Spiders domestic fluff fic :/

**Reply from SilverLongPhal:**  I'm not surprised. Batwoman and Catman type romances never really go anywhere. She deserves someone better.

**Reply from ArrowstrikesTrue:**  As a SpiderHawk shipper this pleases me.

**Reply from Deadllyforceisbestforce:**  Meh, I always thought that Spider-Man and Spinerrete would've made a better couple. They always got along whenever they were caught on cam.

**Reply from ASaneMan:**  I still think dating other Supers is too stressful. They should date civilians, go with someone who can give them something outside the mask.

**Reply from Aguyplayinggames:**   **ASaneMan**  yeah you and about a million of her fans/volunteers. What is with people being so obsessed about celebrity's love lives? Don't you have your own to worry about?

**Reply from AllNaturalSyntheticFakeOriginal:** Helps with the monotony of our meaningless existences. Anyway looks like the shipping war has begun. I wonder what  **JJJatHome**  has to say about this.

* * *

Back here again.

Peter's face was puckered in a grimace as he walked through the floor of Sattana's nightclub, which was becoming a far more familiar sight than he wanted it to be. Satanna told them all about her plans after they stopped the demons planning to interrupted the Covenant, but back then he'd paid it no mind. Even after she sent him an invitation before he got back to New York he just ignored it. Unlike Ketch and Daimon he saw no need to keep in contact with her.

Now he was walking down here with the devil's new favorite meal tow.

He turned his head to the side to eye Matt. The kingpin-turned-vigilante walked through the club confidently, slipping past the dancing half-breeds and humming a tune under his breath. Both angels and demons eyed him; as something curious to be pitied or disgusted by with the former and like he was the main event dish for the latter. Matt had commented beforehand that his soul was enticing to the damned.

Case in point.

"Back off." He grabbed the hand of the half-breed woman that almost grabbed the redhead's back. She turned to him with a hiss, crimson eyes flaring, "That doesn't scare me." He shoved her off, "Wait till he ain't breathing before you start snacking."

"Not very friendly of you, Peter." Matt hummed in amusement. Peter ignored him and looked around him. More of the half-breeds surrounded them, looking at Matt with pure hunger in their eyes. The more sinful the soul the more delicious the taste - and Matt's soul was dripping with sin, "Hmm, this seems rather familiar." He pulled out the blade from his walking stick while Peter unsheathed his knife. He didn't need Hellfire to kill.

He was about to strike the closest one when a voice rang out, confident and smooth, "Well now, what's all this?"

Mephisto.

The half-breeds shrunk away as the trenchcoated man strode towards them. Peter's grip on the knife tightened briefly before he put it back on its sheath. Fighting against Mephisto wasn't something you did. If he wanted you dead you were dead.

"Mephistopheles. So nice to see you again." Matt grinned.

"And you as well, though technically this is our first meeting. Not unless you count me meeting your owner while you screamed and begged for release." Mephisto's smile only emphasized the unbridled glee in his next words, "Though I expect we'll get to know each other very well soon enough, especially with the way you carry yourself. I'd come up here myself to collect you."

"Is that why you're here...?" Peter asked warily.

"Oh no, I'm just here to relax. Running damnation is a stressful job, you know?" He laughed under his breath and looked Peter straight in the eyes. This time he was afraid, "By the way, I heard your relationship troubles with Spider-Woman. You have my sympathies."

"...Thanks."

"I do hope you're able to work through it. Your kids would've made - will make? - things just a tad more interesting." Peter pursed his lips and didn't say anything. He was baiting him, that's what it was, "Yes, your eldest will follow in her mother's footsteps while the youngest takes a page out of daddy dearest's book. The Ghost Spider and the new Winter Soldier."

"What are you-"

"I'm kidding." He held up both hands and chuckled.

Peter knew better than to push his luck. Hands clenched, he turned and walked to Satanna's office, shoving past the half-breeds still frozen in fear and awe. He wasn't going back here again after this.

"Oh Peter, so nice to-"

"What do you want?" Matt came up behind him and closed the door.

"My my, someone's in a bad mood." Satanna raised a brow and smiled teasingly at him, "Bad breakup?"

"Tell me what you want or I'm leaving right now."

"Touchy! You know I know a succubus brothel that'll-" Peter turned to leave. He didn't get more than two steps before Satanna suddenly appeared in front of him, "Alright, not a good time for jokes, but I do think you're being a bit too ungrateful considering the information I'm offering."

"What, you got something on Roxxon?"'

"Roxxon? Now why would I search anything about him?" She waved a pale hand through the air, "No matter. I'm referring to the one who lured you to a trap."

Sowande.

"I thought you only cared about Bakuto?"

"I do, but your friend Steven came and made a deal. A favor for a favor, you could say. A shame he's so attached to that Moon deity, I would've gladly taken his soul." Peter looked away with a sneer. Damn demons treating souls like coins, "Point is he did me a favor and now I know where he's going to be."

"Where?"

"A building by the name of Midland Circle. Word on the grapevine is that he'll be there for a new investment of some kind." She handed him a photo and he couldn't stop himself from growling.  _Lizards_ , "Yes, it seems like he managed to get his hands on that little project of yours. Don't you just hate it when the things you don't clean up come back to haunt you?"

"This complicates things slightly," Matt murmured, "If I'm guessing right Sowande's using his mercenaries as guinea pigs. Or guinea lizards in this case."

"All I know is what I've gathered. The rest is up to you boys." Satanna shrugged without a care.

"A favor for a favor, you said. I need some information."

"On Roxxon?"

"Yeah. Apparently he's got a secret lab somewhere. He's kidnapping people who got hit with that damn mist and our only lead doesn't exactly inspire confidence."

"Hmm...I'll see what I can find." She waved him away, "Now, weren't you threatening to storm out?"

"Surprised you're not offering to deal for Matt's soul," Peter said, only half joking.

"Tempting, but Mephisto's called dibs. Apparently he's very interested in making sure he ends up down there."

"How flattering." Matt laughed, "Come then Peter, we should leave before we outstay our welcome."

A few minutes later Peter was sitting at the edge of a building with his face half covered by his mask and a cigarette between his lips. The others were coming and then they could pay back that white suited bastard for leading them to that trap.

"They're on the way." Matt sat beside him covered head to toe in his new Daredevil gear. Peter ignore him and took a long breath of the cigarette, "Hm...a penny for your thoughts?"

Peter didn't say anything.

"Stony silence, hm? It's like the first days of our friendship." Peter almost shoved him off the roof, "Still, I'd like to thank you for your aid earlier."

"I need you alive till my deal with Page pans out."

"Ah yes, your deal to save Mr. Crest from damnation. The deal you still wish to uphold even after what he's doing now." Peter took another drag, "I wonder if your resolve will continue as the days pass. After all, the 'I'm possessed' excuse can only justify so much."

"He's not like you."

"Oh I know. He didn't have a choice." Matt made a deal to bring his mother back. A part of Peter sympathized with that, but another, larger part didn't - couldn't - care. Not after what he did to them, "...Moon Knight and Iron Fist are here."

Peter looked back slightly to see the white and yellow clad figures but made no move to stand. There was still Echo left, "Well now, don't you two look cozy." Lockley grinned and took up Matt's right side while Rand reluctantly sat to Peter's left, "I know you broke up with your girl but damn you move on quick."

"Don't think I'm afraid of breaking your jaw, 'Jake'."

"Hey now, let's not fight..." Danny raised up a hand weakly. It was ironic. He heard enough about that glowing fist of his to know he could smear them all against the walls but the way he acted you wouldn't realize that. He was just like Gwen that way, "Spider-Man just had a break up and-"

"Damn it, could everyone stop bringing that up?" He growled in annoyance. Why the hell was everyone prying into his damn love life? It wasn't exactly a romance for the ages, "None of us are friends here so could we stop pretending this is normal?"

"Not friends? Odd, I heard the bonds made in battle forge the strongest of chains," Grant said.

"Get that out of a book, Grant?" Peter scoffed.

"He kinda does have a point. We do have to learn how to work together if we want to beat the Hand," Danny said, "Stick's warriors are...cold. That's one of the reasons they're losing against the Hand. They're acting like the Hand - treating each other as expendable to the war - but they don't have the numbers to justify it. The five of us working together can do better but only if we know we have each other's backs."

Peter couldn't tell if he pitied Rand's misplaced idealism or he wanted to push him off the building too.

"And besides, we're so similar in a lot of ways." Matt grinned. Peter looked at him flatly then blew smoke in his face, "Well now, there's no need to be rude about it." The redhead coughed and waved away the smoke, "The truth hurts, Peter, but it's always good to confront it. Like our twisted relationships."

"What the hell are you talking about now?"

"You with Miss. Stacy and me with Karen." He hummed and looked ahead, "Miss. Stacy covers it up with honeyed words, but how often has she disregarded what you wanted? The same way Karen won't just let me cut my throat to save us all the trouble Miss. Stacy will do anything to keep you alive to assuage her sense of guilt and because it's 'for your own good'. You do remember begging for her to leave you to your death a year ago, right?"

"After you cut out my eyes and killed Bullseye..."

"It was still your choice and she took that away from you. And of course let's not get into her oveprotectiveness after Arcade's distraction. We both wear their collars, Peter. The only difference is mine is literal."

"...I suggest you stop talking before I decide the deal's not worth it."

"It  _is_  rather astounding how unhealthy your relationships are," Steven said, "It's hard to believe that Marc, of all people, is the one who's in a tentatively healthy relationship. Even Daniel had an ill-fated tryst with Teresa two years prior."

"H-Hey!" Danny protested weakly.

"You have my sympathies, Rand," Peter muttered, "And last I checked you weren't much better, Grant. How's Wasp deal with her not-husband having three people crammed into his skull?"

"Four if you count Khonshu." Grant smirked, "It's going about as well as could be expected. She has some hesitation, of course, and Hope is of course rather reluctant to have a father after almost a decade of absence. We're taking it slow."

"And now we're wasting time." Peter sighed and stood up, "Echo's late and I'm tired of waiting. I'm going on ahead, she can catch up."

Matt watched them all leave and waited till all of them were out of sight before pulling out Peter's phone, "You really should be more careful, Peter." It didn't take long for the phone to ring and he answered without a word. That would be Ms. Baumgartner.

"Pete, Pete!? Pete, I- fuck! I need your help! They took Aracely! These...These fuckers with a cloak and fucking light knives just came and took her! I need your help! I need-"

He cut the call and shut the phone off. Wouldn't do for Peter to be distracted, after all. He felt somewhat guilty going back to his old habits, but this time it was Karen pulling the strings. They needed to focus, after all. The last thing they needed was two of their heaviest hitters leaving when Ms. Baumgartner was more than capable of rescuing her friend.

Besides, someone else would come to her rescue.

"You heard that, hm?" He tossed the phone to Echo and she snatched it out the air deftly, "If you wish to leave and aid Ms. Baumgartner then I won't stop you. I know you have a special interest in her friend. The four of us can handle Sowande."

She jumped off the building without another word. Matt chuckled and swung to catch up with the others. Her behavior was hardly surprising. Family always came first, after all.

* * *

**EagleEye:** - **embedded image-** Snagged a pic of  **Spider-Man**  and the  **Defenders**  (except  **Ninja Lady** ) hanging out on a rooftop. It's kinda blurry, but I did my best.

**Reply from GrinderFanatic:**  Lol looks like they're trying to cheer him up after his breakup.  **#fourbrosonaroof**

**Reply from AThreesomeis:**  Anyone else think it's sad that Spider-Woman was sulking alone all day while Spider-Man has buddies to cheer him up?

**Reply from Shamelessandlovingit:**  It's lonely at the top. Anyway, on to the important bit: look at their bods! Those are goals right there!

**Reply from Tehehe:**  Yeah, as much as I like the Avengers they're seriously lacking in man meat. I've seen some of the videos of the Defenders. If it wasn't for the brutal maiming I could watch them ALL day long :P

**Reply from AThreesomeis:**  Dude we don't even know what they look like! Except for Spider-Man and he wasn't much a looker.

**Reply from Tehehe:**  Last time we saw Spidey's face the Jack-o-Lantern fucked him up. You try looking good like that. Anyway, with bods like that who cares how they look like? I'd want em to keep the mask on anyways.

**Reply from Shamelessandlovingit:** Big agreement there. Ninja lady is  _so_  lucky...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna show Aracely's kidnapping this chapter but I ran out of space. I'll show it in the next one. So we've got a three way split of plots right now - Gwen giving birth to her symbiote baby, da bois taking down Sowande, and Lana (plus Echo) dealing with Aracely being kidnapped by Cloak and Dagger. Which means more fight scenes. Why do I do this to myself?
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Do you guys want more segments with the 4 male Defenders awkwardly hanging out or just leave it to this? Some readers are complaining about Peter not having any male friends.
> 
> 2\. Curious, but do you guys think that Peter and Gwen are healthy for one another or do you at least partly agree with Matt that it's imbalanced? I'd argue he's making false equivalency since Gwen's not nearly as controlling as Karen.
> 
> 3\. Are there any V1 characters you guys want to come back and/or get focus on again? I've gotten some comments for Teresa, though I'm aware a large chunk of the readers hate her for her behavior.


	25. Kids, kids, kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter full of fighting. Probably be the last for a while given the events that take place in it, so good for me. Mock exams are coming up in a couple of days so I thought I'd bash this out before then.
> 
> The end of the chapter'll probably feel like jumping the shark, but don't worry, it's temporary. I'll fix it soon enough.
> 
> BTW, I'm putting up another poll for who should be the new symbiote host on fanfiction.net just to make sure. Check it out.
> 
> Side Note - Anyone wanna talk about the fic or Spider-Man/Spider-Gwen in general? Hit me up on Discord :) My username is DragonAge123 #2030

**What-are-we -** Maybe a bit too soon, but who do you guys think is right between  **Spider-Man** and  **Spider-Woman**?

**Reply from WereMuggers -** Spider-Woman def. Spider-Man is a killer vigilante, plain and simple. Surprised it took her this long to drop him.

**Reply from AndWhatDoWeDo -** But he's also got a point. Ever since she signed on with the Avengers Spider-Woman hasn't been patrolling as much. Hate the guy if you want, but he's out there every night fighting crims and demons.

**Reply from Wemugpeople**  - Didn't she say she was going to uni? That's pretty important too. Besides, Initiative members pick up the slack.

**Reply from SoletsgoMUGEMMMM -** still kinda feels like she's gotten too big.

**Reply from HRAAAHHHH -** She's a Superhero, not an indie rock band. The Avengers are a good thing, end of story. Spider-Man's talking out of his ass.

**Reply from IdontunderstandtherewereTWOofus -** Am I the only one just laughing at her comment about him sucking in bed? Guess all those rumors about bedding supermodels were BS.

* * *

Someone was going to die tonight.

Lana picked herself up from the ground and glared murderously into empty air. Those bastards took Aracely and she was gonna fucking  _kill_  them, "Tt..." She clicked her tongue and pulled the shiny knife dagger thing off her chest. It didn't hurt, not exactly. Lightboy looked real fucking surprised she didn't fall on her ass when he hit her with it. Guess she could thank her new upgrades for that.

But of fucking course she couldn't stop him and darkbitch from taking Aracely.

The knife suddenly disappeared from her hand and she grimaced, "So much for that clue..." She sighed and looked around her. The place was mostly undamaged except for the food truck lightboy smashed her into when he threw those knives into her chest. Good as place as any to ask. She walked towards the grieving man and tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey, you see where those two went?"

Nothing, just crying.

"...You do know that the faster I leave the faster you can get your Initiative insurance, right?" Money talked and she'd already heard stories of Initiative members being bought out for insurance scams. That got em into a lot of trouble when they got caught. Tony Stark did not like being made a fool of, "Look, I just need you to point me in the right direction, that's all."

He finally stopped crying long enough to point her to the right; straight ahead to Hell's Kitchen. Of fucking course they'd be from there. Felt like everything wrong in this damn city came from Murdock's toilet.

She called everyone she could as she followed the breadcrumb trail like Hansel and Gretel. Pete didn't say anything (she'd give him a piece of her mind later), Stacy was apparently giving birth so that's where she and Mary were and Cindy's phone was off, so she was probably following a lead or getting fucked. Or both. She growled and call her again.

"Come on, come on, pick up!" She was getting closer, she could feel it.

"Hey Lana-"

"Aracely's been kidnapped. Same guys who took glowboy from you. No time to explain. Just follow the GPS and get your ass over here!" She cut the call and and stopped at the next intersection, "Hey, anybody see a chick with a cloak and a guy dressed like an ice princess go through here?" she shouted. No one responded, though a few of them did stop to take selfies. Dicks, "Hey, knock it off! I need-"

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. The brunette teen spun around with a fist raised and scowled when she saw Peter's new ninja friend, "Fuck do you want?" She didn't say anything and nudged her head to the side with a soft grunt. Lana resisted the the urge to punch her in the face; it wasn't her fault Aracely was kidnapped, even if she was being fucking annoying right now, "Look, whatever the fuck you want I'm busy so go bother someone else."

She tried to push past and ninja bitch blocked her. Before Lana could lose her temper though she threw a phone Lana's way, which she barely caught, "...This is Pete's phone." No password lock either. She really needed to do something about that. She'd change it to her birthday or something, "Why do you have this? Did Pete send you?"

Again she just grunted and nudged her head to the side, "You...want me to follow you? You'll take me to my friend?" This time she got a nod. A part of Lana was screaming  _'it's a trap!'_  and to tell ninja bitch to fuck off, but eventually she nodded and followed after her. If Pete trusted her then she would too, even if this entire thing was weird. Couldn't trust someone she couldn't hear or read.

The rest of the short lived trip was quiet and soon enough Echo (dumb name) stopped in front of... _another_  fucking church. Christ, what was with this place and abandoned churches? Did Murdock's old buddy just like the idea of churches being ruined in his playground? "I hate churches..." she muttered. She'd never been the religious type. Most people in the Kitchen weren't, and that was before they found out a literal demon was playing Kingpin. That either vindicated a lot of people or they decided it was time to turn to God. She was mostly the former.

Echo stopped and traced the dull brown door while Lana checked her phone. According to Cindy was on her way, "Maybe we should-" Echo kicked down the door and charged in, sword drawn, "Or you could fucking ignore me. That works too." She sighed and chased after her, her whole body sparkling with energy. Those two assholes were dead the second she saw them.

The inside of the place looked like something out of a cheap horror flick. It was even more decrepit than Maggie's place and the smell of mold in the air made her eyes water. Echo stopped and eyed the shadows warily, "See something?" Lana clenched her fists and focused on every creak and crack. She didn't have the fancy spidey sense Pete, Cin and Spider-Gwen had.

Which made her getting punched in the face by darkbitch both expected and really fucking annoying.

Lana flew through the air from the force of the impact and skidded along the ground by her feet, "Asshole!" She shot a blast of energy towards the blond shadow. Darkbitch disappeared then re-appeared right in front of her, "Fuck off!" Lana caught her fist and headbutted her. Darkbitch stumbled back then disappeared just before Lana's next punch could connect.

Great, she was one of  _those_  types.

Not too far off Echo was dodging lightboy's knives. Echo flipped back sideways and deflected the last thrown knife with her sword as she landed. Lana had to admit, it was pretty impressive looking.

She aimed for lightboy only for darkbitch to appear in front of her again, "Don't touch him!" Lana boosted back to avoid the sweeping hit and shot her again. Darkbitch disappeared again and appeared behind her, "Son of a-" She'd barely turned around before a punch across the face sent her reeling. Even with her new upgrades she knew she'd feel that in the morning.

Behind her Echo deflected two more knives and grabbed the other before it could hit and tossed it straight to darkbitch's chest. The blonde shadow hissed and stumbled back, which allowed Lana to charge ahead and tackle her to the ground, one hand holding to the neck of the cloak and the other raised for a downward punch, "Where's Aracely?!" she screamed, practically frothing at the mouth.

"Just leave us alone! We're trying to save her!" Darkbitch screeched, struggling harder than before.

Lana almost smashed her fist down till she felt the sudden chill that ran down her entire body, "What the...?" Darkbitch was gone- scratch that,  _everything_  was gone. Lana looked around frantically and her breathing quickened when she saw the nothing around her. No darkbitch, no lightboy, no Echo... _nothing_. Nothing but shadows that stretched out as far as she could see.

"Not again..." She couldn't stop the hint of fear at the end. This was just like when she'd gone to that damned haunted house to get that fucking silver, "Hey!" She aimed ahead and shot, but nothing came, "Come on..." Another shot, another mocking fizzle. Lana tried to run and only managed a few steps before the chill worsened and it became harder and harder to move.

Eventually she stopped and fell on her knees. It was getting harder to keep her eyes open and even breathing was something she had to force, "Come on..." She tried to gather up one last burst of energy. Her right hand shone briefly then completely faded.

Lana fell on her side and shut her eyes. She was absolutely freezing now and the temptation to lull off into sleep was getting stronger, "Dagger...stop!" The voices were so distant. It really was just like that damn barn. Was she going to be useless again, just waiting for someone else to save her? "She doesn't know, she's not one of them! Come on, we have to focus on the girl."

Aracely. They were going to take Aracely if she didn't  _do_  something.

Lana's eyes snapped open, energy covering eyes and blocking her irises from view, "Wait, something's-" Darkbitch's panicked shout was drowned out by Lana's own primal scream. Energy surged through her entire body and expelled outwards in a deafening explosion. The shadows were stripped away and Lana fell on her hands and knees again, her breaths coming out in ragged gasps. In front of her was darkbitch, curled up pathetically with her cloak shredded next to her.

Lana charged and kicked her in the face, "Dagger!" Lightboy turned away from Echo. Big mistake. The ninja stabbed him clean through the leg with a knife, grappled him the floor and pinned him down with a knife to the neck.

Lana paid them no mind.

"Get up!" She kicked her in the face again. This time she knocked off teeth and darkbitch coughed out blood, "Not so tough without that fucking cloak, huh?!"The next kick hit her in the gut and she tried desperately to reach for the tattered remains of the cloak.

"Please, she'll die if she doesn't-" Lightboy's whining stopped when Echo pressed the sword harder. She didn't know why she didn't just slit his throat, "Please...we were just trying to help."

Lana ignored him and grabbed the blonde by the scruff of her neck. Her was was bloody and beaten and Lana felt absolutely no pity, "Where's my friend...?" Energy pulsed through her right hand and she pressed it against the bloody cheek, "Talk or I blow your fucking head off!"

"She can't talk like that! Please, just-"

"Shut up!" Lana shouted. She completely ignored the reverb in her voice, "This bitch just tried to kill me and I'm this fucking close to blowing your head open too, asshole!"

"Alright, fine, she's-"

"Lana!" Lana's head snapped to the side just in time to see Aracely charge towards her and tackle her off the whimpering blonde. Before she could shove her off the younger girl continued in a rush, "Please don't hurt them! They are trying to help me!"

Lana grabbed her shoulders and shoved her gently so she could stand, "What the fuck are you talking about?" Darkbitch crawled for her cloak again. Lana almost blasted her but Aracely stood in her way, "Move, Aracely!"

"No! Please listen to me!" She looked at each of them with a pleading look, "It is...hard to explain, but none of you are enemies. Please let us talk about this."

"Talk? Oh, is that what they call dropping in out of fucking nowhere and  _kidnapping_  you? Guess lightboy stabbing me in the fucking chest with those knives of his was just his way of saying hello, huh?"

"You wouldn't have believed us! No one ever-"

"I don't fucking care what you-"

" _STOP!_ " Aracely's yell nearly forced her to the ground again. It was like she'd screamed right into her head, "They were trying to help, Lana, but they did it the wrong way. You can be mad, but we have to talk.  _Please_."

"...Fine." Echo stood without another word and roughly pulled out the dagger from lightboy's leg, making him cry out in pain. She hoped it'd sting. Meanwhile Lightbitch managed to put on whatever remained of her cloak and was covered in shadow's again, "...I'm watching you. One fucking move and I blow your head off." Lana glared down at her.

"Noted..." Her voice was weak. Lightboy immediately knelt by her side and hugged her. It would've been sweet if they hadn't just tried to fucking kill her.

"They weren't trying to kill you," Aracely said. God, she hated that mind reading thing, "Tandi's powers...she has a hard time controlling them sometimes ever since she and Tyrone changed. She got angry and desperate. She was going to let you out once you fell unconscious."

"Oh yeah, how fucking convenient," Lana spat, "And how the hell do you know all this?"

"Their thoughts. So chaotic, but the thought of that - of helping and the things they've suffered - are always at the front. They've seen people like me being taken. They were taken themselves. They want to help people not suffer like they have.

"And the best way they can do that is by kidnapping them? Gee, that doesn't sound like bullshit at all." Lana rolled her eyes.

"What were our options?" Darkbitch - cause she wasn't going to call her Tandi like they were fucking friends - muttered, "'Hey, you're about to be kidnapped, experimented on and killed. Leave your life behind and come with us'." She looked down at the floor, "We tried doing it the nice way. No one believed us, and each time they were taken. We couldn't save them and they died."

"Cry me a fucking river." Lana sneered, "It's funny, I'm not feeling very sorry for you two after the shit you pulled."

"We don't expect you to. We've made our choices," Lightboy said.

Lana took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. It didn't help much, "Alright, assholes, I'll play: why Aracely?"

"Because she'll be taken too." Lightbitch looked up at her with a steely gaze. The bruises dampened the effect, "You've been taking her around town, going on ballgames like there's nothing wrong. If we could find her don't you think the people who want her can do the same?"

"Let em come. You think it's the first time I've dealt with pricks like this?"

"It's not you we're worried about. You can protect yourself; that's why we didn't try to take  _you_. But you can't be there for her every hour of the day. At some point you'll slip up and she'll be taken just like the rest."

"We were going to take her out of town. It's not ideal, but a life on the run is better than staying here and being a target," Lightboy said.

"Oh gimme a fucking break. You honestly think you're the heroes here? Kidnapping people and dumping them outside of the city with a 100 bucks and a pat on the back? You didn't think maybe  _explaining_  what the fuck is going on would help? Hey here's an idea, maybe go to the cops or the Initiative? See if they'll help?"

"You don't think the people who took us have their people there too?" Lightboy shook his head, "Whoever these guys are they have money. We tried running to the cops first, back when our powers were first switched and we couldn't defend ourseleves, and they beat us and nearly took us back. No, we can't trust anyone. Even 'heroes' can be tempted by money."

"Oh for fuck's-" Lana took a moment to breath because she was going to fucking scream at them otherwise, "I'm not the biggest fan of the cops either, but even I know not all of them are cartoon villains!"

"We didn't say all of them were. It doesn't change the fact that we don't know who we can trust," Lightboy said.

"Well, I know one." Lana looked back and heaved a sigh of relief when Cindy went through the door, half her face hidden by her scarf. Good, she was tired of dealing with these two, "Normally I'd place you under arrest for all the crap you've pulled, but if I'm right then the bastard who took you is the same one we're searching for now."

"W-We don't know where they are," Lightbitch muttered, "It was...we were in a forest outside of New York. The only reason we knew to come here was because one of the scientists mentioned this was where they took their...'subjects'." She shuddered at that. Lana almost felt sorry for her. Maybe. Kinda. Okay not really, she could go suck an egg.

"You must know something," Cindy said, "Either way you're both not going anywhere, not after the stunts you pulled."

"Please don't hurt them," Aracely said, moving to stand in front of the pair, "They were just trying to help. Please understand."

"I know what they were intending, but what they've done is another thing entirely." Cindy's expression softened at Aracely's pleading look, "I'm not going to hurt them. I know what it's like to be caught and hit with scalpels."

"Yes...you do." Aracely nodded slowly and turned back to the pair, "Please trust her. She will make sure you aren't taken again."

"Right..." Lightbitch nodded and looked to Lana, "I...I'm sorry for-"

"Shove it up your ass. Just cause Aracely trusts you doesn't mean I do." Lana walked away and sat at the one remaining pew that was miraculously still standing. Aracely looked between her and the wonder twins before reluctantly following after. Cindy was talking to them now and Echo was fucking gone. Lana didn't know or care where she went.

"Lana-"

"...Did they hurt you?" She looked her up and down. Nothing, not a scratch on her. Good news for those two.

"No, no. They just wanted to help." Lana snorted, "I can hear how angry you are. Please don't be mad at them."

"She sucked me into some kind of dark dimension! Funny enough I have issues with that kind of thing." Especially after last year. She still had nightmares sometimes. She didn't tell Pete; nightmares were something she knew she'd have to deal with so no use crying about it, "And let's not forget lightboy stabbing me in the chest and slamming me into that food truck. I'm not in a very forgiving mood."

"I understand." Aracely frowned but nodded all the same, "Thank you for coming for me."

"You had any doubts?" For the first time Lana smiled, though it was weak and crooked.

"No, I knew you would come for me." Aracely smiled back, "Who was your friend?"

"Echo, I think. Dunno why she came. Thought your mind reader bs would help you figure that out."

"No. I cannot read her mind like I cannot read Spider-Man's." She couldn't read Pete? Weird, "With Spider-Man his thoughts come out like a jumble. Like someone screaming gibberish at the top of their lungs. With her she...it's like dipping your face into cold water. I can't hear her thoughts, and all that comes out is quiet. It's...creepy."

"Says the mind reader." Lana rolled her eyes, "It doesn't matter why she did it. She helped out and you're safe now. Speaking of, we gotta get you your own place. Sneaking you out of the dorm's a pain in the ass. Hmm..." Lana put a hand on her chin, "I heard Hawkeye owns an apartment building. We could probably get you a room for a while there. What safer place than the one an Avenger owns, right?"

"...Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Huh?"

"You saved me already and now you're helping me again. Why?"

"Do I need a reason?" She asked back, "Let's not make this awkward, okay? We're friends and I don't like to see you get hurt. Maybe I could be helping other people instead - keyboard warriors love whining about starving kids in Africa from their parent's condos - but I'm only human. I can help you so I can, so quit trying to read into things. Which I know sounds really weird since you're a mind reader, but hey."

"Okay...thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, let's go find you a new place."

They walked out of the ruined church side by side. Aracely stopped and looked back to the roof. The woman in the patchwork costume looked down at her silently, "...Thank you." She nodded and jumped down on the other side, disappearing from sight.

Up ahead, Lana looked down at the energy pulsing through her hands before shaking off her doubts. She saved Aracely, that was all that mattered.

* * *

**GregTheGarlicFarmer -**  So now that the Spider couple are broken up who do you think they'll end up with?

**Reply from MorninNiceDayforFISHINaintit -**  Spider-Man and Spinerette defo. These guys have insane chemistry during team ups and she always talks about how she trusts him. Surprised they hadn't gotten together soon.

**Reply from Hu-hu -**  Spider-Woman I'm guessing either Hawkeye or another Initiative Hero. Maybe Scarlet Spider?

**Reply from BreastPlate -** Dude these are real life people, not fictional characters. You guys know that, right?

**Reply from MorninNiceDayforFISHINaintit** \- Just having fun. Sides dont' tell me your not curious about it?

**Reply from BreastPlate -** Nah man. What they do on their business their business.

**Reply from Hu-hu -** Hmm, anyone else think maybe Spider-Woman and Striker.

**Reply from StrikerNotBombshell -** For the last time you assholes, I'm not fucking gay and neither is Cindy. Write fanfics as much as you want but no amount of having Cin call people Senpai's gonna make it real.

* * *

Marc drove the cestus into the Lizard's jaw and looked back, "Iron Fist, duck!" The martial artist quickly dodged the blow and took down the overgrown reptile with a few precise strikes to its midsection. Not too far away Peter and Matthew worked together to take down a particularly large member of the pack, the former holding it down with a net of webbing while the latter bludgeoned its face with his escrima sticks. Despite their past enmity it seemed they worked well in tandem,

_'Come on, Marc, lemme out! I'm bored!'_ Jake said. Steven simply sighed and watched in utter boredom, _'You know this is my specialty!'_

_'Quiet.'_ He took down another Lizard and sliced its neck. He felt not guilt for this. These weren't the innocent victims Harry Osborn and Cindy Moon had taken. They were mercenaries all too willing to give up everything that made them human for the sake of a payday.

_'Sounds familiar, doesn't it?'_  Steven hummed, _'A long time ago we would've been one of them.'_

_'Now is not the time to dwell on past actions.'_ He had not told the others but he did know of Sowande before. Bushman and he had worked for him in the past, just one of hundreds of soldiers of fortune. He doubted Sowande even knew him now or if he'd even care if he did. He was just another one to step over, the same way the Hand treated their fellow man.

Marc put down the final Lizard and wiped the blood from the cestus. The resistance was crude at best, and he could only assume that Sowande had more up his sleeves than a few reptiles, "The rest of the building is abandoned," Matthew said, "No civilians, no one but Sowande and his mercenaries. I can't imagine he's doing this for our sake."

"We must've caught them at a bad time," Peter said.

"Either way it's good news for us. Don't have to worry about them taking hostages, right?" Daniel asked. He always looked to the bright side of things, "Anyway, we should go get him now before things get worse." He pointed to the door that led to the main hall. Midland's architecture was confusing and he expected there to be a ballroom on the other side of the entrance given their previous experiences.

"Charging in won't help." Matt tapped the walls with the end of his stick, "I sense people above us and to the sides as well. If we charge in ahead then it won't be long before we're lured into a killspot. I suggest either tackling the sentries one by one or splitting up and dealing with them separately to avoid giving any group the chance to prepare or recuperate."

"The latter seems most prudent." Marc nodded, "I shall deal with Sowande. The rest of you decide on your own. We shall rendezvous separately." He turned and walked to the large double doors before any of them could contest. Truthfully he preferred it this way. While he could...appreciate the benefits of teamwork he'd spent the better part of a decade working alone. It was still odd having more than just Steven and Jake for company.

_'We know you love us.'_

_'Don't think he has much choice on that, Steven.'_

Marc tapped his gauntlet and the drone he'd planted earlier whirred to life. Machinery made for far more dependable - and predictable - allies,  _'Yeah, but what's the fun in that?'_  Jake leaned against the wall and smirked, _'You gonna let me have some fun now?'_

_'Yes'_

_'Oh hell yes! My time on the controls!'_ Jake chuckled and grabbed two grenades, one in each hand, "Heeerrreee's Jakey!" Jake pulled the pins on both with his teeth and kicked the door down. The men on the other side started shooting only to hit the shield the drone put up. Jake tossed both grenades past it and grinned when the walls were splattered with blood.

"I'm right here, assholes!" He used the drone as a stepping stone and jumped up, blades jutting out of his gauntlets. Poor bastards barely had time to aim up before he landed and cut their necks, "Hahahaha!" He grabbed the rifle and riot shield on the floor and charged ahead. Been so long since he could cut loose like this, especially since Waspy and his kid got back with Marc. He liked em just fine, but damn they made him soft.

_'Be careful, Jake.'_

_'Screw off, Marc. I'm having fun!'_ He primed another grenade and tossed it just as the door opened. Jake grinned when he saw their eyes widened just long enough to realize how screwed they were, "Kaboom!" He spat out blood and grinned as he dropped the spent gun and dented shield, "Betcha ol' Waspy never let you have this much fun, huh?"

_'Alright, I think you've had enough fun.'_  Steven put a hand on his shoulder,  _'My turn.'_

_'Aw, come on! It's barely been a minute!'_

_'This next one calls for a more delicate touch.'_ Jake grumbled but acquiesced control all the same. Steven picked out a smoke grenade and looked back to the shot-up drone, "This is turning into a rather expensive outing. We'll need to build up our funds again after this."

_'What's the point? We can just as Marc's Sugar Mama for money.'_

_'Don't call her that.'_

_'Bite me, Marcy.'_

_'Let's save this for another_  time.' Steven tossed a portable camera forward so it stuck to the ceiling and tapped the side of his mask,  _'Area's wide open. Not much cover either for them or us. We'll need to to this quickly.'_ There were a few tables but apart from that the area was open and spacious. He counted easily two dozen men with Sowande at the center like the king on a chessboard.

_'Who cares, just kill em all and let's get this over with.'_ Jake groused.

_'Patience is a virtue.'_ He tapped the gauntlet and put the drone to bomb mode. That'd cost them later,  _'Hope this is a good investment.'_ He tossed the smoke grenade past the doorway and made the drone surge forward. As expected the men inside immediately fired on it and Steven had to brace himself at the explosion that rocked the entire building. For anyone else it would've been excessive, but not for the Hand.

He tapped his cowl again to activate heat vision and charged into the room. The entire area was covered in a thick sheet of smoke and the few mercenaries that weren't killed or dazed couldn't see him.

Steven slammed the first one against the ground and snapped his neck. Another mercenary blindly fired in his direction and he tossed a moonblade that cleaved through his skull,  _'Knew those were a good deal!'_  Jake cheered. Steven grappled up to the wall and scanned over the area again. Sowande was nowhere to be seen and the smoke was beginning to dissipate. He didn't have much time left.

He flew down by his cape another lone sentry and smashed his head down into the ground. Three more, and they fell just as easily. Steven snapped the last one's neck and looked around as the smoke finally dissipated,  _'Did Sowande run?'_ Marc asked.

Steven was about to reply till a sudden pressure on his back forced him on his knees, _'Hey, what the hell? Get up!'_ Jake screamed. Steven tried to do just that but his body refused to cooperate.

"I would not bother struggling." Sowande walked ahead of him, his accented voice smooth and calm despite the scene of carnage around them, "Your body will not move no matter how much you will it."

_'He hit a pressure point. I can heal the damage but you must keep him distracted,'_  Marc said.

_'Easier said than done.'_ Steven looked up at the ancient man and grimaced. He looked like someone you'd see on Wall Street - neatly pressed white suit, expensive leather shoes and even a gold, amiran watch. The same way Murakami craved power others in the hand craved more material pleasures.

"Nothing to say?" He taunted.

"Why stay out here alone? Where's the rest of your buddies?" He could move his fingers now, but only slightly, "I know how you all work. There must be a reason that you're out here by yourself and it's not because you wanna spare them. They're up to something."

"I could ask you the same." He crouched in front of him and tore the mask off his face. He wasn't worried about being recognized - putting another face for his nightly excursions was standard habit, "You came in as a group and yet here you kneel, alone and helpless. Did you think I would be so easy to fall to you alone? You're a child, and that false deity you worship will not save you."

"He doesn't have to. You kill me and I come back. Can't say the same for you anymore."

His eyes twitched. Interesting, "Perhaps not, but the Hand will survive."

"Maybe, but you won't."

The tapped the lowest button on the gauntlet and shut his eyes. The machine exploded with a bright white, blinding light and Sowande screamed in both shock and pain as he stumbled back, hands covering both eyes. Steven grabbed him by the neck and and pressed his last moon blade against his neck.

_'Kill him and let's get out of here already!'_  Jake screamed.

"Finish it." Sowande glared up at him defiantly.

_'...Hold, something is wrong.'_  Marc grabbed his wrist, _'There's nothing the Hand fear more than the thought of death. His calmness makes no sense.'_

_'What are you talking about?'_ Jake asked impatiently.

_'He means that killing him will just play into what they're planning.'_

Steven relinquished control back to Marc. Marc looked down at the grinning Finger and punched him in the face to knock him unconscious, "We need to bring him back." Interrogating him would be difficult, but they had little choice. Better than playing into his plans. He put on his mask again and tapped the side to call the others, "I've taken down Sowande. Regroup at the agreed upon spot."

No response. Not good.

* * *

"What the hell is that?" Peter crouched next to Matt and Rand and looked down at the chamber below. Matt had been the one to find the elevator hidden behind the wall and suggested they investigate. Moon Knight could handle Sowande alone, he said, and he hated the thought of leaving the Hand some kind of advantage because they refused to investigated.

Seeing the thing down there was giving him second thoughts.

The elevator took them to some tunnels that led to a large circular chamber with makeshift stairs leading down below. Dozens of Hand ninjas were convened together, all of them kneeling down with blades on their laps. High above them standing front of another hole was something that he could only describe as monstrous. It was a woman, her skin so deathly pale that it only made the dark purple outfit she wore all the more noticeable.

Still, at all paled in comparison to her face. Her features were obviously inhuman with pale yellow eyes and fangs along with an elongated forehead at least twice the size of the rest of her face. Her long, red hair floated behind her as she preached.

"That's Lilith..." Rand said. He sounded scared, "You'll hear stories about her. Mother of all Vampires, the whore of babylon...I don't know much but it's enough to get a figure on what she's like."

"No religious studies in K'un-Lun, hm?" Matt chucked under his breath, "Well, it's probably for the best. The scriptures make out the demons to be infallible, eternal constructs. I believe Peter's proven that to be false."

"Yeah, and it only took us almost an entire year to find that one weakpoint." Peter's hold on his guns tightened, "I don't have my Hellfire knife." Or anything else that he could use to make sure she didn't get those fangs near his neck. Damn he hated Vampires.

"Then I suppose Daniel will have to be our trump card," Matt said.

"No pressure or anything," The Immortal Iron Fist (someone had a big head) said, "Any idea what they're doing down there?"

"I believe it speaks for itself." Matt gestured down just as one of the ninjas rose and walked towards the Vampire. She'd gone quiet now, her preaching replaced by the droning of the assembled mob. Peter watched through narrowed eyes as the ninja made a small cut on his neck and Lililth immediately surged forward, biting his neck like a rabid dog. Blood fell down in droves until eventually she pulled back, cut open his stomach and bled him over the hole she stood in front of.

"What the hell...?"

"Blood." Matt sniffed the air and grinned, "Gallons of it in that hole from willing sacrifices. The Beast had similar habits in the past."

"I'm guessing they're trying to copy what your old pal did?" Peter asked.

"Most likely, though now they're using Lilith instead. Exchanging one primordial demon for another; you'd think they would learn by now. Thankfully Lilith isn't nearly as troublesome as my former 'pal', to use your term. The majority of her abilities come from the blessings she gives her coven rather than individual power. She's more archaic in that manner."

"So are we doing this or what?" Rand asked somewhat anxiously.

"Sooner the better. Me and Matt'll deal with the ninjas, you deal with the Vampire Queen."

They all nodded at one another and jumped. Peter shot as many as he could before they landed and charged towards the largest cluster, "Iron Fist, go!" He webbed down four of the now-aware ninjas while Matt dealt with those on his side. Iron Fist ran through the gap they made, fist already glowing yellow.

" **Fools.** " Peter almost froze at the sound of her voice. It was different from before: deep, guttural and echoing like legion. Time seemed to slow as Rand jumped and struck a blow straight to her face. It was scant inches from making contact when she suddenly dissipated, leaving nothing but the smallest wisps of smoke.

"What the-"

**"Did you think me so simple to kill?"** He turned around and slashed just before she disappeared again. He growled and disappeared into smoke,  **"Foolish child. You hide in the darkness like a mouse, fearing the gaze of the hunter. The shadows might bend to you but _I_  command them."**

_'And I thought Gwen's fans were dramatic...'_  His spider-sense blared and he ducked to the side to avoid the blast of green energy,  _'Energy blasts? Don't remember reading that in Dracula.'_  He dodged another beam and turned his attention briefly to the ninjas attacking Rand. He sliced their necks clean open and Rand incapcitated the last three just as quickly.

Everything was suddenly cloaked in darkness. Peter looked around warily and lowered into a crouch next to Rand. He could still see, but he couldn't say the same for the Immortal Iron Fist, "I assume by your postures that something's changed?" Matt called out lightly, seemingly ignorant of the Vampire that teleported behind him. Peter opened his mouth to scream a warning when he suddenly lashed out and threw his billy club behind him.

The red stick made contact with Lilith's jaw and she stumbled back. Matt's grin was short lived when she looked back at him and hissed, her face twisting to look even more inhuman, **"The time for games is over. I will not be made a fool of by the Beast's castoff!"**

She disappeared and re-appeared next to Matt. This time he didn't get a chance to defend himself before she slashed clear across his back and disappeared. She did it again and again and again for all three of them. Peter shot and webbed as fast as he could but only managed to hit air. By the fifth slash he began to feel lightheaded and could barely focus on covering Rand.

They needed to hold her down somehow.

_'...I'm going to hate myself for this.'_

He made a show of falling at her next slash and she pounced like a starving dog. Lilith pulled his neck back and bit down hard. Peter grit his teeth to keep from screaming,  **'Sleep, child. You belong to me now. Become one of my children and feed me.'** Rand was recovering and his fist lit up,  **'Obey me, spider. Renounce your false god and worship _me!'_**

"Go...to hell!" He webbed her feet and slammed his head back just before Rand shot his hand out and hit the parasite with a yellow wave of energy. Immediately the darkness receded and he saw just how close Rand was to the edge of the hole. He was swaying in place, tired from both the blood loss and the last attack while Lilith already disappeared. Coward.

"Rand, move-"

He fell. Peter jumped in after him and snagged him by the waist with a line of webbing on one hand and stuck to the wall with another, "Really getting tired of having to carry you..." He couldn't his grip much longer. From above his left hand shook while his right barely managed to keep hold of the unconsious blonde. Down below was the pit full of blood, the crimson fluid bubbling and hot.

Peter tossed Rand up just before he let go of the web. He barely even noticed himself landing on the boiling blood below and sinking underneath, "Peter!" Through the blood he saw Matt attach the billy club to a beam and swing down. Peter raised a hand weakly and the man dressed as the devil pulled him from death.

Everything after that was a blur. He vaguely remembered being carried out of the building amongst a haze of voices: Moon Knight's confused questions, Rand's apologies and Matt's garbled explanations.

He didn't know how long it was but eventually he shot up with a gasp. He looked around the room quickly and let out a slow breath when he recognized Moon Knight's safehouse, "Someone's awake. Enjoyed your beauty sleep, Peter?" Matt teased. A short distance away Moon Knight refused to meet his gaze while Rand looked like a kid who got caught stealing from the cookie jar.

"Yeah, slept like a..."

...

Something was  _wrong_.

Peter stumbled off the bed and tripped as the legs of his pants caught in his feet. His oversized pants. Matt looked distinctly (annoyingly) amused while Rand helped him up, "I don't need you help." He shoved him off and tried to ignore just how off the action was. He rushed over to the nearby full length mirror and almost punched it when he saw his reflection.

Peter Parker...at 7 years old, just like in those old pictures May and Ben had. The sight in front of him almost made him scream. A picture perfect copy of the Peter from over a decade ago dressed in oversized, bloody clothes. He looked like a kid playing dress up.

Matt laughed, the sound deafening in the small safehouse, "It appears the Hand are trying a different approach to immortality. Their spent years are catching up with them slowly but surely and it seems they made a deal with Lilith. In exchange for feeding her their disciples she gives them back the years they've lost. A bloody fountain of youth like in legends of Elizabeth Bathory. I suppose we should count ourselves lucky you weren't turned into an infant or aged out of existence."

This time Peter actually did punch the mirror, shattering it to the floor. Rand winced while Spector paid it no mind, "...What the hell are we supposed to do about this?" He cringed at how high his voice was. He doubted any amount of fake growling would help here.

"I suppose waiting for the years to catch up isn't an option?" Matt grinned at his (still intimidating and he'd kill anyone who said otherwise) glare, "If you're impatient then I suppose we must call your sister. She would know more about your odd physiology than any of us."

"Damn it..."

"Is this a bad time to tell you that Miss. Stacy's giving birth to her new symbiote? Because-"

Peter dragged Matt down by his collar and punched him in the face. Hard.

* * *

**AbraKadavra**  - Witnesses saw the Defenders dragging a kid out of Midland circle. Any idea what that's about?

**Reply from LovenMountain -** Kidnapping, maybe?

**Reply from Sweetient -** Doubt it, doesn't fit their M.O to take kids, especially after what we saw on Arcade's 'game show'. Probably rescuing someone.

**Reply from Callartz -** Apparently there were explosions inside and police found a lot of dead bodies and some Lizards. Think someone's trying to start shit up with that again?

**Reply from Sweetient -** God I hope not. Last thing we need is another Lizard Parker.

**Reply from LovenMountain -** He says while defending Spider-Man, a resurrected Peter Parker. Shits wack.

* * *

If Mary Jane was being honest, a part of her thought she wouldn't be friends with Gwen Stacy for long. Ever since that night at prom she'd clammed in on herself and it was only her impulsive mood to enter the band in a contest that even got Mary Jane into contact with her again. She still had no idea why they'd agreed to it, but at the end of the day they won the competition and the newly christened Mary Janes were there again.

Even then she didn't think it'd last too long; especially with how often Gwen skipped practice and gigs. Glory always stood up for her and Mary Jane always found a way to see the worse in her. Little did she know the other woman was too busy saving a city that called her a murderer and acted like she owed them the world.

And now she was about to watch her give birth.

Mary Jane let out a soft breath and looked at the others in the room. Everyone was here - Gwen's dad, her mom, Jessica, Helena, Ben, May...the only people missing were Cindy, Lana and Peter himself. The first two were busy with the Roxxon thing but promised they'd catch up while Tiger was...well, he didn't answer his phone, but Gwen was sure he'd come. She wished she could have someone she trusted like that.

**_'Pining again?'_**  Crimson groused. It definitely wasn't happy being here.

_'I meant in general, cause God knows I can't count on_ you _.'_

_**'After all I've done for you. A little thank you wouldn't hurt.'** _

She ignored it and looked back to Gwen. She was lying down wearing nothing but a patient gown on the same see-through cube she'd been in a year ago when Wasp first examined her. Right next to her Webster lounged around and Gwen scratched it idly. She expected things to be more...tense when they got the group text, but so far it'd been rather casual.

Mary Jane shook her head and entered the cube. As far as Wasp told them there wouldn't be a lot of screaming or scrambling for hot water, though Gwen did mention feeling the occasional stomach kick, "Hey, Gwencent." Gwen looked up and smiled nervously.

"Hey." She patted the empty spot next to her and MJ sat, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just kinda want this to be over." She still didn't like to think of what exactly was happening. Gwen Stacy, her best friend, chronically late drummer and freaking  _Spider-Woman_ , was giving birth. Sure it didn't have hours of labor and screams about pushing but it was still bizarre to think about.

"You and me both."

"Any luck with Tiger?"

"No, he's not answering." Her smile was replaced by a slight frown.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be here." Mary Jane squeezed her hand and got a soft grip in return. A year ago she would've been scared to be here - scared that Crimson would take her over and hurt Gwen while she couldn't do anything but watch. Now she knew she could control it, at least enough to not hurt the people she loved.

"Yeah..." Gwen breathed out deeply, "This is pretty freaky, huh? You ever imagine things would be like this?"

"What, that you being New York's premier hero next to Captain America and She-Hulk, Tiger and your mom coming back to life and me being attached to a mass murdering symbiote? Yeah, I totally guessed that." She rolled her eyes.

**_'I'm the best thing to ever happen to you and you know it.'_ **

_'Stop asking to eat Mr. Mulligan and maybe we'll talk about you not being the worst.'_

**_'But he's 76, overweight and having heart problems! He's practically goading us to dig in!'_ **

"Nice to see you're taking this so well," Gwen let out a forced laugh, "Hey...you know if you ever have any problems you could tell me, right?"

**_'Yes, tell her all about your date with the devilman. She'll be so thrilled.'_ **

"Yeah, I know."

Gwen opened her mouth to reply when she suddenly doubled over, "Oof, looks like it's coming! You better get out of here!" MJ nodded quickly and rushed out of the cube just in time for Gwen's next contraction - or whatever the hell it was - to hit.

Mary Jane suddenly felt nervous, her earlier boredom replaced with nervousness as Gwen gripped the gurney so tight she almost bent it in two. The rest of her family weren't much better judging by the way they looked away or tried to shush the crying baby, "Coming back from the dead was less weird than this..." Helen muttered next to her. MJ nodded even if she was sure she wasn't meant to here.

Webster 'melted' away from her and Gwen gasped, eyes wide and mouth parted. Mary Jane almost burst in when Wasp's voice came through the speakers, "You're getting closer, Gwen. Just focus and don't let Webster separate from you." Gwen grit her teeth and the black goo shifted back into her body, "Good. The new symbiote's birth depends on you both retaining symbiosis."

It was one of the most tense 10 minutes of Mary Jane's life. Everything was quiet save for the sounds of Gwen's struggling breaths and the symbiote whispering something she couldn't make out until, eventually, she saw something else begin to leak out of her. A storage compartment immediately popped out of the floor and caught the falling symbiote, which landed with a dull plop.

The very, very  _pink_  symbiote. Huh.

"Is...Is it over?" Gwen asked softly.

"Yes, I believe so." Wasp came into the room and stepped into the cube. She knelt in front of the clear container and inspected the screen mounted on the upper right while the rest of them gathered around Gwen, "Fascinating. It appears that this new symbiote doesn't emit radiation. Possibly an adaptation?"

"Why...Why is it pink?" Gwen asked after she finally got a good look at her new spaw-  _baby_.

**_'It looks disgusting. This fleshy, pinky thing. It makes me angry just looking at it.'_ **

_'Look who's talking.'_

"Why were your and Ms. Watson's symbiotes black and red? I'm sorry but I don't have much idea how genetics and inheritance works for these lifeforms. The good news is that we can safely assume that symbiosis for it should be possible given the lack of radioactivity, though I'll still conduct some other tests just in case."

"Good, cause I'm pretty sure Cindy called not it..." Gwen blinked wearily.

Webster's snake like head slithered out of Gwen and stopped in front of the container,  **'Our child.'**  It touched the the container with its 'face' and hummed. The formless blob stirred slightly and a part of it reached out to briefly touch the other side of the container,  **'It is tired. Rest will do it - all of us - good.'**

"So...we just leaving it here?" Jessica asked.

"Yes, and it'd be for the best if Gwen stayed a day or two as well. I'll need to conduct more tests, ensure there aren't any side effects from the birthing process. You're all welcome to stay, of course. There's more than enough room for you all."

"Thank you." Mr. Stacy nodded.

"I wonder where Peter is...?" Gwen mumbled.

"I'm sure he's coming, May. Don't worry." Ben held her hand.

Sure enough the elevator dinged behind them. Mary Jane looked back and raised a brow at the two people who stepped out. The guy in the suit she guessed was Moon Knight, but the kid was new. Brown hair, a long sleeved white shirt with a dark bubble vest on top of it, jeans and brown shoes. When he looked up to meet her gaze he looked away with a scowl.

May gasped next to her while Ben gave the kid a wide-eyed look, "...Peter?"

Wait, what?

"Yeah..." Wasp raised a brow and looked to Moon Knight who just shrugged. Mr. Stacy and Jessica looked torn between surprised and just being completely done with this shit while Helen covered her face with hands and groaned, "There was...an accident when we tried to stop a Vampire the Hand was making a deal with. Long story, but I'm stuck like this till Teresa gets here."

Mary Jane's head snapped to Gwen. The blonde's jaw had practically dropped to the floor and any attempt to vocalize her thoughts just ended up with her sputtering nonsense in a loop, "Gwen...?" Mary Jane poked her cheek no response, "...I think she's broken."

"We all are, Mary. What else is new?" Well, that definitely sounded like him.

The elevator dinged again and both Cindy and Lana stepped out. The teenage Superhero stopped when she caught sight of them, "...Who's the kid?"

Oh, this was going just  _great_...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cloak and Dagger are cooperative, Sowande's been beaten(?), Gwen's new symbiote baby is born and Noir got himself Detective Conan'd. Like I said above I'll fix this later, so for now just enjoy the upcoming chapters of Spider-Boi Noir beating the shit out of criminals twice his size because the Spider-God thinks a 7 year old is still a decent pawn. Will also give me a chance to explore some new undercover segments given that he's now beneath suspicion.
> 
> Oh, and for obvious reasons we aren't going to have any romance scenes between the leads. I know people joke about it cause of that Endgame scene with Captain Marvel but I'm not interested in getting my fic perma-banned. Good thing he and Gwen are 'broken up' currently.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter's only big change comes from the first segment. Originally Echo did way more and was the one who broke out of Dagger's dark dimension. I switched it to Lana since I didn't want to make one of the protagonists look useless. Echo can do more later when they get to Bakuto.
> 
> As for the spawn (name pending), I plan to base it off Jarro from the new Justice League comic. Anyone familiar can expect hilarity.
> 
> 1\. Are there characters who don't interact much you wish did? One friend/critic mentioned that Teresa only talking to Gwen a handful of times and completely ignoring Cindy felt odd given that they're Spiders as well.
> 
> Other readers also seemed to like when Gwen was caught flat-footed dealing with Satanna and the nightclub and want more scenes like that. Or having the Hand attack Peter while he's with one of the other science based heroes to show more discrepancy between ancient chi and radiation superpowers.
> 
> 2\. Hmm, would you guys like to continue the story or should I write up that Moon Knight prequel oneshot next chapter? Feels good since we're currently in a lull in the plot but I'll let you guys decide.
> 
> 3\. What do you guys wanna name the baby symbiote? Cause right now if I can't get anything it's getting named Chocolate.


	26. New Size, Same Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So according to the votes we've got 2 votes for every possible host...and a whopping 12 for Laura. I knew I should've seen it coming, but still, wow. She only has slightly more plot importance than Frog-Man so I have no clue how she won outside of maybe 'she's smol'.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the gap between updates. Anxiety's kicking in again now that Board Exams are coming up and I've taken to playing Skyrim again with mods. Had to churn this out.
> 
> Also, a couple of readers thought the blood dunk would lead to Spider Trigger. I feel I should remind people that ST isn't demonic in nature and he would've taken power from the Spider-God, not demons. Dunking him in the blood wouldn't give him demonic powers since it's incompatible.
> 
> Side Note - I'm going to start using the usernames of reviewers for the tweeter segments cause I'm way too lazy to keep coming up with my own. So if someone with your username acts like a jerk in the story, please don't think I'm attacking you or trying to cause offense. I'm just lazy.

**Vendetta543:**  For readers wondering if Spider-Man and Spider-Woman's recent break-up will stop me from updating  **Three Tangled in a Web** , rest assured it won't. Fanfics are about getting away from reality.

**Titan616:**  Phew, thought we lost you there :) till eagerly awaiting who'll win the love triangle.

**Mingyu:**  What's it about?

**Noisy-Cricket:** It's a love triangle romance between Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and Gwen Stacy. According to some journos she was an old friend of his before that night at prom.

**Mingyu:**  Wait, I don't get it. How do you write Gwen Stacy? Does she have a blog or something?

**Vendetta543:**  Nah. I did some searching and found a few headbook photos of her in a band so I just made her a tomboy punk rocker. She was just supposed to be a side character for the Spider-Man/Spider-Woman romance but readers ended up really liking her and she ended up as the third protagonist after the two leads. I even had to change the title to include her.

**Psycho825:**  What do you expect? Spider-Woman fics have been done to death and a lot of people can't really sympathize with a billionaire heiress. The way you wrote Gwen Stacy, especially when she found out the guy she mourned for years was Spider-Man, was really well-done. I'm definitely shipping those two and hope she wins.

**Nerdman3000:**  That and it's a childhood friend romance, which is always a classic.

**Psycho825:**  I'll be honest I just really can't sympathize with Spider-Woman in your fic. She comes across as too bossy and can't really understand Spider-Man's POV since she's had everything handed to her. Gwen Stacy is much more sympathetic since she's dealing with reconciling the fact that her old childhood friend came back from the dead as a killer vigilante, which is much more of a hook.

**Titan616:**  I'm still a Spider-Woman fan since she gives Spider-Man the most character development.

**StrikerNotBombshell:**  Holy shit...I can't wait to tell Spider-Woman about this.

* * *

This wasn't how he wanted this to go.

Peter sighed and leaned back on the seat, trying his best to ignore how small he felt on the suddenly oversized cushions. The room Wasp had given them was wide and homey, but at ease was the last thing he felt. A part of him didn't even want to come here despite Gwen's circumstances. He'd make up an excuse and say something came up and that they wouldn't see him for the next couple of hours...or days...or weeks. Contacting Teresa was more difficult than they initially thought.

Now instead he was here being gawked out- well, all of them except for Cindy. She'd been surprised, sure, but she'd immediately shrugged it off.  _'I'm from another dimension and I fought aliens, this really shouldn't be that big of a deal'_ , she'd said. There was a reason she was his best friend. Always so quick to have his back even after he spent 4 months playing the noir vigilante.

Of course, he couldn't say the same for the others. Lana and Mary had been badgering him non-stop once they regained their senses. How did he become like this? Was it permanent? Where the hell did he get the clothes? That last one got him a few looks when he told them Moon Knight already had them on hand. Apparently he figured being turned into a 7 year old was an inevitability in their line of work.

Gwen was...quiet, which scared him more than he wanted to admit. Gwen was never quiet. She was bright and loud and wore her heart on her sleeve; sometimes to the point that she could be irritating, but still. Now she just looked at him, mouth slightly parted like she'd been drugged with something. At least her partner was gone - it decided to stay in the box with its new baby.

So he did the first thing he could think of to snap her out of it.

He pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and tried to light it. His thumb slipped on the clicker (damn stubby fingers) and that made Gwen snap up, "Are you seriously going to smoke right now?"

"Why not? I've still got my powers." Matt's broken jaw could attest to that. It'd be harder to fight, definitely, but he'd had worse...well, not really, but he could deal with it. Least he wasn't blind again.

Gwen stood and took the cigarette from his hands, "Okay, I'm putting my foot down here. No smoking when you're a fucking 7 year old. It just looks... _wrong_." Funny coming from the woman who just gave birth to a pile of pink goop. Hopefully she wouldn't say anything when he started using guns again.

"Whatever you say." He shrugged. At least she was talking again.

"I'm still just wondering what the fuck's up with this city. I mean we fought a damn demon last year and now we've got, what, some kind of ancient Vampire bitch running around? What next, we gonna deal with witches riding dragons trying to summon fairies to fight genies in some kind of secret war?"

"Don't tempt fate, Lana." Damn it, now he really did want a smoke, "The point is this condition's temporary. Annoying, but temporary. I mean it'll be harder to fight since I don't have as much reach but it should be easier to sneak around-"

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold up!" Gwen said suddenly, "Are you telling me you're going to keep being Spider-Man while you're like...this?" She gestured to him like he was some kind of alien.

"I don't see why not. I still have my abilities and the Hand are going to be re-doubling their efforts now that we ruined their ritual and took one of theirs." Matt and Rand took Sowande to a place to interrogate him. He doubted it'd do anything - Rand would just give him mean looks and Matt himself confirmed that the Fingers were impossible to break. Wouldn't stop him from trying, though.

"And the fact that you're currently _7_  doesn't strike you as a reason to hold off?"

"Not particularly."

"I feel like we've had this conversation before..." Mary muttered.

"Yeah, I'm getting pretty sick of it myself," Cindy said, "Look, Gwen, you know he's gonna go out there again so please don't argue. He was annoying enough when you grounded him when he was legal, I  _really_  don't wanna think how bad he's gonna be now that he's a literal kid. I have my hands full with Laura as it is."

"You're all heart, Cin." Peter rolled his eyes and smiled slightly before turning back to Gwen, "Don't like it any more than you do, but finding Teresa's harder than we thought and I don't want to just sit around like this. Maybe we can find something that can fix me." It was a hell of a longshot, but he'd had worst odds. Matt could attest to that.

Gwen briefly chewed on her lower lip then nodded, "Fine, just be careful."

"As much as I always am." He hummed, "And I'm...sorry for not being here earlier."

"It's not your fault; I didn't know we were gonna give birth till tonight." Still felt odd to think about. He loved Gwen, but motherly would be the last thing he'd call her; even if she could be as overbearing as one sometimes, "Speaking of, I might have missed it but what are you doing to do with it? Have you given it a name? Figured out who's gonna host it?"

"Webster and I've been brainstorming but haven't come up with a name yet. I didn't wanna name it Chocolate no matter what she said." Of course it'd suggest that name, "As for the host..." She chewed on her lower lip and looked to Cindy, "So did you think about-"

"No."

"Come on!" He almost laughed at the sudden immature tone in her words, "Jan confirmed it's not radioactive so that's not an issue!"

"Not the the point, Gwen." The older Spider gave her a steely look, "I'll be straight with you: not everyone is cool with letting someone or something else into their skull. You and Webster are cool, and really all the power to you for that, but me? I like my headspace with just me for company Same reason why I had to stop myself from decking former Agent Hill when she tried to order me to be their new symbiote test project."

"But-"

"And honestly, if that thing's really innocent then you don't want it seeing what's in my head. Trust me."

"I agree with her, Gwencent. As literally the only other person on the planet with one of these things I'd tell anyone else it's not fun and games," Mary said.

"No offense, Jane, but I think you're a unique case. Not everyone gets a serial killer parasite on them," Lana said. The skin of her exposed shoulders thrummed red briefly. Looked like the monster was mad, "But yeah, I agree with Cin. Imagine a camera pointed at you no matter where you went. I mean fuck, I'd definitely have to go nun since there's no way I'm jacking off with someone watching." She paused, "Wait, doesn't that mean you and Pete do it when-"

"Webster goes off when I have personal time, same with showers- wait, why am I even talking about this with you?" Gwen huffed frustratedly.

"Could we please not discuss our sex lives, especially considering the state I'm in now?" Peter said.

"Speaking of, I hate to be the 'mom' again but please tell me you two aren't planning to-"

"Of course not!" Gwen shouted before he could reply, "Jesus, Cin, what kind of-"

"I'm just making sure, Gwen. No need to bite my head off for it." Cindy rolled her eyes then

"Back on topic, if you really need someone then why not Norah or Jessica or your dad? You trust them, right?"

"I already asked them: they all said no." Gwen's shoulders sagged, "Dad and Jess said they're not putting other kids - deliberate ones - off the table just yet and they don't wanna risk what a symbiote will do to pregnancies. And Norah...well, she made the same argument Cindy did. Apparently she really likes her alone time." Most people did. It sometimes worried him how quickly Gwen had taken to sharing all her thoughts with something else so intimately.

"Oh man, Nor's gonna freak when she finds out about you, Pete." Lana grinned at him.

"Yeah, I figured..." He sighed.

"Well...there's always Gayle," Mary said slowly. Gwen and Lana just looked at her like she was crazy, which he started to think she was, "Before you ask, I didn't tell her. She just overheard me when we were talking and then 'casually' brought up that she's totally down for any new superpowered blobs if we're handing them out. If you really need someone to host then she might do, right?"

"The fact that she's referring to it as a superpowered blob makes that a hard no." Gwen crossed her arms, "I like Gayle, I do, but it's pretty obvious she just wants something to give her powers. The reason I asked Cindy and Norah and Jess and my dad is cause I know they wouldn't just use it to start live streaming as another Costume. It's a child, not a power suit."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Gonna have to tell her the bad news then." She scratched the back of her head and sighed, "I guess we'll just have to keep looking. Might wanna name it first, though. Gonna be a hard sell if you don't even know what to call it...or if it has a gender. You call yours 'she', right?"

"If it's anything like the other symbiotes then I assume it'll take a sex once it bonds with something. For now 'it' seems appropriate," Peter said, attempting to make his voice low. Lana snorted and covered her mouth with both hands, "Is something funny, Lana?"

"Dude, your voice is...I'm sorry, but you trying to sound like Tracy Dick is just way too fucking cute."

"I. am. not. cute." He was Spider-Man, damn it. Even after he got his ugly mug shown all over New York most of the lowlives were smart enough to know when to cut and run. He wasn't going to let that damn Vampire's blood bath do him in.

"You know that's something a lot of kids say when they wanna look grown up, right? And that it never works?" Cindy snarked.

"Uh...we probably shouldn't piss him off, you two. He can still turn invisible and snap our necks," Mary said, though he didn't miss the slight smile she had.

"Oh, go to hell. Next time a demon comes out trying to eat your souls don't come crying to me."

"Aww, we're sorry, Pete. You want a glass of milk to make you feel better?" Lana snorted and laughed again.

"Fine, laugh it up..." Despite the teasing he oddly felt better. He'd been scared they would treat him differently, walk eggshells around like he really was a kid, but they still treated him like their friend. If there was one thing he hated it was being treated like an invalid, "Joking aside, what happened to you both? I understand why I'm late but it's not like either of you to play catch-up like this. Did you get into any trouble?"

"Yeah, couple of morons with hero complexes." Lana sneered and energy buzzed through her hands, "Lightboy and Darkbitch thought they were saving people by kidnapping em and dumping em outside of New York. Would've caved their faces in if Aracely didn't tell me not to. Oh and of course Cin here was too busy getting fucked to answer my phone calls, so thanks for that."

"Seriously?" He gave her a disapproving look, "I thought you'd balance your time better. I'm disappointed."

"I  _will_  spank you, you midget." Cindy glared at him half-heartedly, "And for your information I was following a lead with Feli. Scorpion's in tight with the Maggia and there's been a rash of killings we think are tied to that, but so far it's a dead end. Pretty hard to get info when people suddenly die of heroin overdose while we're interrogating them. While their hands are tied and they don't have a single needle mark. Probably a Gifted of some kind."

"I could help you with that."

"Maybe try fixing yourself first, tiny." That wasn't a  _no,_ though he wasn't looking forward to Felicia finding out about his condition.

"By the way, have you talked to Norah? She's been looking for you," Mary said to Gwen.

"Kinda. She's been texting me about how our ruse is going..." She sighed and shook her head. Even now she had her doubts on the plan, "I mean it's going well, everyone thinks we're totally broken up, but..." He'd seen some of the comments. As expected the majority of the public took Gwen's side, cause apparently these people had nothing better to do with their time than butting into the relationship of other people. He might've been hurt if it wasn't so sad.

"We could still go with Peter and Cindy's plan," Mary Jane said, "Heck, isn't Lana's friend psychic? Wouldn't that work?"

"I asked Aracely about it. She says mind reading isn't something she can focus on and sometimes it's hard to pick apart thoughts - sometimes she'll get what she wants, sometimes she'll just hear about what fetish you're hiding. I'll let you guys know if she gets better at it. Oh, by the way," She rummaged through her pocket and tossed a phone Peter's way, which he caught easily, "You need to take better care of your phone, Pete."

"Where did you get this?"

"That ninja chick you're running around with had it. Ask her." Great, so no chance of getting answers for that then, "By the way I put in a password. It's my birthday."

"Thanks..." He pocketed the phone, "So now what do we do? You still wanna go along with this ruse?"

"Too late to back out now." Gwen breathed out softly, "I'll stay here for a couple of days to watch over...uh, screw it let's call it Charlie for now, and after that I'll go back to patrolling. If Roxxon asks I'll say I was having my post-breakup pout."

"I think that's my cue to leave," Cindy said.

"Wait, you're going already?" Gwen asked.

"I gotta go finish up that case, kinda left Feli hanging when Lana called and you sent that group chat about your new pink baby." That was another thing - why the hell was that thing pink? About as far as White was considering how Gwen's partner looked, "I'll keep in contact, don't worry. Only reason I won't be is if I'm doing something really important." She gave a pointed look to Lana at that.

The younger brunette snorted, "Yeah, sure. I gotta go too anyway. We're setting up a place for Aracely with Hawkeye. Speaking of, you mind telling her to give us a discount, Spider-Gwen? We ain't all swimming in cash."

"Yeah, no prob. I'll ask Kate for a favor." Gwen turned to Mary, "You leaving too? You know you can stay."

"I'm gonna split too, sorry. Crimson's been grumbling since that little pink blob popped out and I'm getting pretty sick of it. I'll just take a swing around town, try to clear my head."

And just like that the two of them were alone. An uncomfortable silence settled over the room and the both of them refused to look the other in the eye. Gwen had just given birth and he'd turned back into a kid - all in all not the  _weirdest_  thing that happened to them, but still up there. It beat being dead, at least.

Peter looked towards her again and frowned. She sat on the bed, knees tucked to her chest with her arms wrapped around her legs. She looked small wrapped up in the baggy white sweatshirt and black, oversized shorts, _'Damn it...'_  He leaned back and closed his eyes. He wanted to touch her, to be there for her, but because they got careless he was stuck like this till Teresa found enough time to hop back to New York to bail him out. The only other option was making a deal with Satanna, but he didn't trust her enough not to turn him into girl or something.

Eventually he mustered up the courage to sit next to her. Not too close, but enough that she felt his presence, "...Sorry." She looked at him in confusion, "I'm only like this because I got careless-"

"Don't even, Peter. I don't know what happened but I'm damn sure you saved someone and that's the reason you look like that."

"...Rand saved us too so it's even as far as I'm considered." The right side of his mouth quirked up in a wry smile, "Probably better this way. Rand has that company he's running and even Matt's working as a lawyer. Least I can afford to go off for a week or two."

"You do remember we're trying to find you a job and into ESU, right?"

"I've actually had some luck there. Norah offered me a position as her 'official photomonkey' and Mary said she could talk to her boss about hiring me to work in that theatre." The latter would allow him to keep a closer eye on Mary too. Something was off with how she was acting, "What about you? Are you okay? Can't imagine giving birth to a symbiote is easy."

"It wasn't..." She laid back and sighed tiredly, "Honestly I'm fucking exhausted, but I feel...proud, I guess? Charlie may not be a normal baby but it's ours and I..." She trailed off. After a moment of hesitation Peter held her hand and squeezed. Gwen was hardly the largest tallest woman he knew but given his new state her hand easily dwarfed his. He didn't let it stop him.

"Peter-"

"I'm here for you." He smiled at her, "I may look like a kid now but I'm still me. If you need someone to lean on then don't hesitate to ask me."

"Not a good idea considering you're half my height." She grinned weakly and squeezed his hand in turn, "God, this is  _so_  fucking weird. I mean you look just like you did 12 years ago when we met." Back when they were just innocent kids who had no idea what'd happen to them. He didn't know if it was good or bad that, despite everything, he'd go through it again.

"I know. I probably gave Ben and May a heart attack when I showed up." Helen and Captain Stacy didn't seem to care that much, at least, "...Our lives are crazy."

"Just figured that out now?" She laughed, soft and genuine. It made him happy to hear, "Just promise me you'll be careful, alright? I know I've been really overprotective lately, and you being a 7 year old now  _really_  doesn't help, but I'm trusting you that you know not to push yourself too much...and keep an eye on Murderdock. Don't like the idea of him hanging around you while you're like this."

"Gwen, as much as I don't trust him I really doubt he's doing anything with kids...at least not without a demon pulling his strings."

"Yeah, sure." She snorted and let go of his hand, "I'm gonna go visit Charlie. Wanna come with?"

"In a bit. I'll go check on Ben and May first."

They went their separate ways and Peter made his way to the room the old couple stayed. He stopped in front of the door and suddenly felt nervous. He'd gotten better at talking to them, especially after those three months in France, but he still found it difficult sometimes. He knew a part of them still considered him the son they lost even after everything.

"You just gonna stand there?" He jumped and turned to the new voice behind him to find Helen looking down at him with a slight smile, a cup of hot chocolate on each hand, "Cause I'm pretty sure Ben and May don't have your fancy spider-sense."

"No, its just..."

"Gotta face em some time, little Peter." Oh, great, back with  _that_  nickname.

He sighed and knocked on the door. Ben opened the door after a few seconds and gave them both a strained smile, "Hey you two. Come in, May's just laying down."

The two of them followed him inside and Peter immediately felt guilty when he saw sitting on the bed with a hot towards over her head. Besides Gwen the two of them were the closest to him - the kid, both of them - before that damn prom night, "...Sorry." He didn't bother trying to lower his voice, which made the apology sounded high and even more pathetic.

May was the first to reply, "It's not your fault." He'd heard that way too much. He was getting tired of everyone telling him that, "It was just...it was a bit of a shock. Seeing you like this just made me remember."

"Before I became a freak, you mean?" There was no bitterness or accusation in the words.

"You don't have to worry about us, son. We've experienced weirder."

"I feel I have to chip in considering I came back from the dead after ten years." Helen set the cups on a side table, "Oh and my daughter was a year shy of being able to drink and my husband got a new girlfriend/fiancee, which I didn't find out about till way later. If I can go through that without going nuts then I'm sure Ben and May'll be fine seeing you turned into a munchkin for a bit."

"Not everyone's as strong as you, Helen." Ben chuckled lowly.

"Hm...you guys are planning to leave soon, right?" Peter asked.

"Yeah. We stayed overtime cause Gwen mentioned her new baby and we wanted to be here when it arrived," Helen said, "We've actually gone way past our allotted time to be here."

"Sorry about that...and please don't say it's not my fault," he said, cutting Ben off, "It is my fault, but it doesn't mean I'm going to spend the rest of my life whinging about it."

"It's not all bad. France is a nice place to live and we've made our own life and friends there." May smiled, "But you really should visit us more. You left with barely a goodbye before."

"Sorry about that. Had a lead on Sowande being in South Africa." Wasn't him, but he did help that rebellion stop that warlord razing all the villages, so he considered it time well spent, "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were both alright."

"They're tougher than they look, Peter," Helen said, "Speaking of kids, they were really excited when they heard Gwen was pregnant...even if it was cause they thought it was your and Gwen's."

"Is this really the right time to talk about this?" He gestured to himself.

"You're not actually a kid, though? I mean you look like one but I'm pretty sure most kids don't carry around guns and or can turn invisible." Helen shrugged. He didn't know whether to be impressed or put off by her complete nonchalance, "All I'm saying is that it has to happen at some point, right? I mean there's no rush but I'm not getting any younger."

"Me and Gwen haven't exactly thought about it. Technically I'm not allowed to even drink yet so it's not something that comes up.." And he had no idea if she even  _could_  get pregnant considering she was a ball of radioactive blood with a symbiotic lifeform attached to her. That wasn't even mentioning himself coming back from the dead. Twice, "Sorry to disappoint you."

"We're not disappointed or anything like that. We're happy if you both are happy."

Peter left them on that somewhat awkward note and made his way to where the new symbiote was being kept. The door opened with a soft whoosh and he found Gwen crouched in front of the clear container, her face lit up in a bright smile as she poked the pink blob. The blob itself seemed to enjoy the attention, alternating between rubbing up against her fingers and 'talking' to the black symbiote that shared its temporary home.

"You look like you're having fun." He stood next to her.

"Yeah, she's really energetic!" So it was a 'she' now? Going by what she knew it probably took her voice so it could talk, "She's...actually, it's kinda hard to explain. Why not touch her and see?"

"Uh...you sure that's a good idea after what happened last time?"

**"It will be fine so long as Chocolate does not attach to you as a host."**

Peter refrained from commenting on the name and reached out a tentative hand towards the pink blob. It 'stared' at the offending limb for a second before suddenly pouncing, _"Hi!"_  He winced and almost pulled back. The damn thing was  _loud_. And copying his voice, which didn't much help,  _"Who are you? You're small! Like me! Everything else is so big!"_  Why was its voice so damn high?

He felt silly talking to a blob of pink goop attached to his hand, but he was working together with someone who was possessed by the Devil so what did he know?

"My name's Peter-"

_"Peter? Oh, Peter! Mom talked about you before!"_ Mom? He gave Gwen a sideways glance and she just smiled and shrugged,  _"Parent knows you too! She said you were mom's other Other! Why are you so small? She said you were tall! You're not tall!"_

"You don't have to keep saying that, I get it." He sighed and wondered which side of the family Charlie the Chocolate blob got its energy from, "You're really talktative for someone born just an hour ago."

_"Really? Parent says its odd too. She said she was quiet first before she trusted Mom. But I don't want to be quiet, I want to talk! Everything's so bright here! And I wanna leave the box but Parent won't let me! The box is boring!"_

**"You were just born, little one. You need to stay first, then you can explore."**

_"But it's boring here! Why can't I bond with Peter and explore like you and Mom?"_

**"He's not a viable candidate for symbiosis due to his condition. We are trying to find you a host but both you and your Other must agree to it. Not everyone is so eager to bond with others like us."**

_"What? Why? It'll be great! I can do hero stuff like you and mom do! Save the city with my very own Other!"_

"...How does it know that?" Peter asked.

**"Memories are shared genetically, it seems. If Chocolate is ever to have offspring of their own then the memory line will continue."**

"I'm just glad she's happy." Gwen rubbed the top of the smooth blob's 'body' and looked like she was resisting the urge to pick it up out of the box and squealing, "Not all of are the memories we have are the best, so..."

"Well, she has you and your partner here for her. Can't think of better parents."

"You're here too, remember? You and dad and mom and Jess and MJ and everyone else. But you should probably fix your...thing; don't want her to keep calling you small, right?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Maybe he really should try to make a deal with Satanna...

* * *

**SpiderGod766:**  Yo I found Spinerette's dating profile on Flint!  **-embedded link-**

**Brave2000:** Old news dude, people've been sending her match requests for like a week now.

**usernamesarebullshit:** Anyone had any luck?

**Crieger:**  None so far...

**The Red Ghost22:**  I matched and we set up for a date a month ago before she did the identity reveal. She had to postpone twice so I unmatched, figured it wasn't worth it. If I only knew...

**Brave2000:**  Dude you were  _this_ close to sleeping with an Avenger!

**The Red Ghost22:**  Yeah, I know. My friends still give me shit over it.

**usernamesarebullshit:**  On the bright side according to some tabloids apparently she just uses Flint for hookups instead of dates so it wouldn't have lasted long anyway.

**Spinerette:**  For your information I do use it to find dates, but it's kinda hard to get those when you're always so busy. And while I'm here, PLEASE STOP SPAMMING ME WITH INVITES. If asking once doesn't work asking 7 more times won't help.

* * *

He was getting too old for this shit.

Detective Christian Blake leaned back on his chair and watched idly as Spinerette the avenger wonder girl dragged another one of the costumed freaks to the holding cell and slammed the barred doors shut. Looked like one of those punk kids who worshiped that pumpkin freak, "You can't stop us! The Jack-o-Lanterns are coming back, baby! We're gonna-"

"Get your asses beat before the next group of schmucks decide they've got our numbers. Then we'll kick their asses too. Shut up." She raised a fist and the pathetic fuck actually fell on his ass when he scrambled back. He almost snorted and ignored the creaking of his left leg. Damn thing always hurt when it rained, "Now be a good boy and tell us all about the rest of your fanboy group's hiding."

Blake ignored the back and forth and looked down at his desk. Same old reports, same shitty coffee he kept drinking to survive the night shift. He was one of the old dogs, as the rest of the guys in the shift 'affectionately' called him, and he more than lived up to the name. His face was tan and wrinkled with short, cropped salt and pepper hair and a beard that was the neatest thing about him. Even his suit looked old, a dull gray and white number that he'd worn since he first made detective over 30 years ago.

Not he had to look too presentable. He'd been a night shift desk jockey for the past 8 years and chances were he wasn't gonna gonna change that before the place finally forced him to retire. Truth be told he'd been thinking more and more about doing it even before the chief finally put her foot down.

All cause of them.

He eyed avenger girl with slightly narrowed eyes. She was talking to a couple of the greenbloods about a new case of hers and they were eating it all up. He almost sneered right then and there. Back then you had to earn the badge. Take the test, hit the streets, get your hands dirty. And now? Now you just had to get lucky with radioactive bugs and know the right people. Back then if you got in cause of who you knew everyone'd treat you like the nepotistic little shit you were, but here they were heaping their praises even when she came and went whenever the hell she wanted and worked with thieves and vigilantes.

Except Masters, but he wasn't any better. He seemed to think screaming louder than anyone else was his way of sticking it to the their Avenger loan but really it just made him look like a child.

Speaking of kids, she looked way too damn young. She said she was practically pushing 30 but the way she looked you'd think she was a fresh college co-ed. That was another thing that bothered him. She had way too much power and leeway for someone who looked like they weren't old enough to drink. She just waltzed in and out as she damn well pleased and no one stopped her. It was pathetic.

And it made his side job harder than it should be.

Sighing, he stood up from his desk and made his way outside, his ankle throbbing in full since he forgot to bring his painkillers. No one really paid the old dog any mind when he went on one of his smoke breaks. To the rest of the youngblood he might as well have been furniture, "Tch..." He took out a cigarette and lit it as soon as he was outside. It'd only be a matter of time till that punk in the holding cell talked.

Time to inform his 'benefactor'.

He limped his way to the drop off point, his only company the muggy night air. He was one of the 'survivors' of the purge last year when that journalist spilled the beans on the former kingpin's assets. After that it didn't matter what you were - police chiefs, mayoral candidates, priests; you'd be put under the microscope all the same. That was what happened when people found out you were taking bribes from demons. New Yorkers could take human corruption just fine, but even they had to draw the line somewhere.

He was low enough on the totem pole that he managed to slip on by. For the most part he stuck to the small gigs: a little payoff here, a look the other way there. Most he ever went was shooting the occasional lowlife for 'resisting arrest', but no one looked twice at those. So another Yancy Street Gang punk died and his merchandise went missing? Just another gang war.

Probably helped he got em from punks with rapsheets a mile wide. He considered it...community service. Another less murderous scumbag out on the streets and he got a little kickback in return. Wasn't that different from what some of those other vigilantes did.

Blake wasn't stupid. Sure he sold the odd hit here or there but he wasn't dumb enough to try and make himself the new Kingpin like every other young punk thought they could be when Murdock was taken down. He did his work, took the occasional side job and that was that. You stick your head out and it got lopped off. No, he was perfectly happy doing his part and leaving it at that.

Till he got that damn email.

He finished off the cigarette and stomped it out in frustration. It all started a month ago. A single email, no subject and no sender and nothing on it but a dozen pictures, each more incriminating than the last. Pictures of him taking buyoffs from pimps and dealers, taking drugs from the still-warm bodies of scumbags people wouldn't miss. Something told him that Captain Watanabe wouldn't look at his side job the same way he did. He wasn't one of them fancy Avengers, after all.

He stopped at the designated alley and, ignoring the way his joints protested, knelt down to pick up the phone covered by a plastic bag underneath the dumpster. This was the offer he got - in exchange for his secret stalker not blowing the whistle he'd have to make the occasional phone call. He wouldn't have to kill anyone and in exchange he just had to tell them when certain people got caught by the police.

Sadly for him those Lantern punks were one of em. He dialed the pre-programmed number and gave his report, if you could even call it that, as quick as he could. He had no clue why his stalker wanted the info and he didn't care to ask.

It was the same deal either way - they'd email him a location, he'd make a report if anything ever came up and then they'd email him another place after a day or two. None of the places were ever used twice and the phones were disposable; one call and the circuits got fried. If he were a bettin' man he'd say that his stalker was bankrolling the crazies, but he had no idea why anyone'd waste money on that.

The phone fizzled as soon as he cut the call and he dumped it in the trash.

He'd paid the piper today, but how long could he keep it up? Wasn't like he could just quit; his 'benefactor' made it very clear that if he became useless those pictures were going out to every journalist in the city and he could kiss cushy retirement goodbye. Cops didn't last long in the slammer, especially ones like him who lasted so long. Grudges lasted a lifetime in the big house.

He fished out another cigarette and made his way to one of his older haunts; if Captain Watanabe asked he was following up on a case. Yancy Street, so affectionately labelled the 'ass crack of New York' by both locals and outsiders. When Hell's Kitchen was 'purified', if you could even call it that, a lot of the dregs decided to look for new haunts.

Better for him, at least; saved him a trip.

He saw it as soon as he stepped foot inside - dealers giving out to everyone from bastards desperate for relief or yuppies looking for a high, streetwalkers parading their 'goods' out in the open. Each and every vice right there for the taking if you knew where to look. He leg throbbed again and he walked towards his old alley. The old pimp here owed him a favor.

Mars, cause apparently Pluto was already taken, looked as far away from a pimp as you could think. He wasn't a muscle-bound meathead and he wasn't a fruit who wore furs and canes. He looked more like a used car salesman with his tacky blue suit and oily, slicked back hair, and the quality of his 'products' matched that. Most of them were addicted to something and had the bruises to match.

But they were cheap and if he wanted something pretty he'd look at a magazine, not here.

"Christian, my old friend!" Mars spread his arms wide and grinned, showing off his stained teeth. Blake never could figure out what the hell that accent was; always seemed to switch every time he came here, "How's the knee?"

"Is Min here?" he asked.

"Ah...no, sorry. Minnie, she has gone to visit family." So she was dead, either cause the drugs finally kicked in or one of her clients didn't like her performance. Damn shame, "Ah, but I have new girl, very fresh! Still unpopped!"

"How young we talking here?"

"Has not even had her first blood yet!" And then he grinned like a kid who got an A on their test. Blake just felt sick. He wasn't a saint by any means, but he wasn't one of those sick fucks who got off to kids or cartoons. If he were an honest cop he would've cuffed the guy then and there, but then the other boys would've asked what he was doing and Mars knew too much.

Or he could just shoot him, but that wouldn't do much. Some other pimp would take over and nothing would change.

So he just shook his head and let out a long suffering sigh, "That ain't what I'm here for."

"If you say so, Christian." He dragged his name out, like he was learning words for the very first time, "Perhaps you-"

And that was as far as Mars got before a blood red rope snagged him by the neck and pulled him up the roof. Instinct kicked in and Blake reached for his gun but by the time he looked up all he saw was Mars' feet being dragged over the edge of the roof right before his screams were cut off.

"What the f-"

A red stick came to his right and smacked his right hand hard. Blake dropped the gun and another stick hit him straight in the forehead. He stumbled back from the force of the sudden hit and a guy dressed in all red landed in front of him and kicked his gun away, "Let's try this without guns, hm?" He grinned at Blake's murderous glare, "Never did understand the appeal myself."

"...I know you." Daredevil, or at least that was what everyone else called him. Wasn't like the guy advertised.

"Funny, I thought I was only famous around Hell's Kitchen."

"You're a vigilante. I'm a cop, I'm-"

"An attempted solicitor? I did make out your conversation with our soon-to-be departed friend there. Tell me, what part of the police manual states that prostitution is a healthy way to spend your time? I'm just curious." Blake's glare hardened and he stood up shakily. He wasn't going to get intimidated by a guy in an oversized halloween costume, "No response? Then perhaps you'd like to talk to my friend."

Daredevil looked up behind him and when Blake turned around he almost fell down again at what he saw. It was a woman, that much was obvious by the curves of the suit, but not one he recognized. She clung to the wall by the tips of her fingers like Spider-Woman and looked down at him without a word, her back pressed against the bricks. Her entire body was covered in a black and red fabric that left no inch of skin or hair to be seen.

And she was swathed with blood.

He almost reached for his gun again before she suddenly landed in front of him, "He on the list?" Her voice was smooth; a singer's tongue if he'd ever heard it. It didn't match anything else about her.

"No, but he's still of interest. Just not for us. The information he have could be useful."

"Whatever you two freaks want, I'm not telling you shit!" He spat out before he could think better of it. Maybe it was pride or maybe it was just complete desperation.

The woman, if he could even call her that, narrowed her eyes up at him,  _ **"Oh really?"**_

Her face split apart. It was hard to describe what he saw. Tongue, teeth and blood seemed to mix together in the distorted  _thing_  she had for a face. Blake screamed and he was sure he would've fallen to the ground if the monster in front of him hadn't grabbed his shoulders to keep him upright.

Summoning whatever strength he could, Blake shoved  **it**  off and ran down to the end of the alley and the waiting streets, screaming all the while.

"Hm...that went well." Matt hummed and picked up the service revolver the corrupt detective had left behind, trying to ignore the smell of fresh urine in the air. Evidently Mr. Blake had pissed himself. Ms. Watson changed herself back to normal - well, as normal as she could be - and crossed her arms, "Is something the matter? You seem upset."

"Not sure how much I like being the bad cop," she muttered.

"But you perform the role so well! Far better than I could, at least. I'm afraid my eyes aren't nearly as horrifying anymore unless one has a fear of blind people."

"Whatever. Why did we even go after him? Only that guy was on the list you got." She turned to the building, "Speaking of, he mentioned a kid..."

"Better for our new interested friend to deal with that?"

"You kept mentioning that. Who's this friend?"

"I think he's talking about me."

Just in time. Matt tilted his head slightly in greeting as Ms. Moon walked down the length of the alley towards them. Ms. Watson froze on the spot and, if he could see expressions, he could surmise she must've been cycling through varying degrees of shock, fear, shame and anger; the last of which would've been directed towards him for his duplicity.

To be fair, he only promised he wouldn't tell Peter and Ms. Moon.

"C-Cindy, what are you..."

"Got a call from the D.A that I'd find something interesting here. Gotta admit this wasn't what I was expecting." She crossed her arms and stared at Ms. Watson, completely ignoring him, "Didn't realize you two were partnering up. Do Gwen and Peter know?"

"N-No, and don't tell them!" He almost laughed at the sudden about face. Gone was the cold vigilante killer and in her place was a desperate young woman scared of disappointing her friends, "This is...I was-"

"Guessing that dead body up there's cause of you?" Ms. Watson hesitated before eventually nodding. Ms. Moon sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I thought Gwen was trying to wean you off of that?"

"She is..."

"Well she's not doing a very good job." Her words might have come out far harsher than she intended given how Ms. Watson flinched, "Look, I can't exactly call you out since I'm friends with Pete and we both know what he gets up to, but Gwen knows about him. You're hiding this from them, and your partner here isn't exactly who I'd pick." She finally turned her head to acknowledge him.

"I'm not doing this with him because I want to..."

"So someone's forcing you to do this? He's blackmailing you?" Even without sight he could feel her glare.

"Not...no, he's not." Huh, he halfway expected she'd throw him under the bus, "This isn't...we're trying to find the people connected to that bastard Arcade-"

"And killing them." Another nod and another sigh, "Cindy, just let me-"

"Explain? Explain what? That you're going behind Gwen's back to go on a vigilante killing spree with Matt Murdock, of all people?" Ms. Watson flinched once more, "I am the last person to call you out considering the things I've done, and not to mention the fact that I'm friends with a cat burglar and a mercenary, but neither of them were doing things behind people's backs. Gwen has no idea you're doing this."

"I'll...I was planning to tell her." Not the whole truth and yet not a whole lie, "Eventually. It's just...how the hell am I supposed to bring it up?"

"Maybe you shouldn't have done it in the first place?"

Ms. Watson didn't respond to that and simply swung away without another word. Ms. Moon's posture stiffened, debating on whether to follow after her or not, before she decided it wasn't worth it.

Ms. Moon sucked in a breath through her teeth and faced him now, "Why'd you call me here? Cause I swear if it's just case you wanted me to find out Blake used prostitutes I swear I'll hurt you."

"You might find it interesting to know that he was spying on your activities. He made a phone call about your recent capture of one of Jack-o-Lantern's fans?"

"Really? Him?"

"It's often the ones we most often overlook." He hummed, "I thought you'd like to know. From what Karen gathered it seems as if he's connected to those who would wish you harm."

"Hm...I'll check it out. Oh, and one other thing." She webbed the gun from his hands and pulled it towards her without warning. He didn't get a chance to make a remark on it when she pointed it towards him, her finger on the trigger, "If you hurt Mary Jane I will kill you. There won't be any drama or speeches, you'll be dead and I won't even feel bad. Are we clear?"

"As well as we can be given the circumstances." He held up his hands in mock surrender and grinned, "Though, I feel I should clarify that she's doing this of her own free will. I didn't force her into anything and I doubt I ever could given her abilities."

Ms. Moon grunted and pocketed the revolver. Blackmail material was always good, "...You wanted me to find out about her doing this. Why? Think I'll tell Pete and Gwen for you?"

"I highly doubt they'd believe it if it came from mouth." He shrugged, "Tell them if you wish. Or don't. At the end of the day Ms. Watson's an adult and she's capable of making her own choices; and that includes the consequences that come from said choices."

"God damn it, why do I always get stuck with this?"

"You complain and yet I'm sure you'll help her. After tonight and you keeping her secret I'm sure she'll see you as a confidant of sorts."

"...You planned for that, didn't you?"

"Hm? I have no idea what you're talking about. Now if you'll excuse me I have to meet Peter and the rest of our little ragtag group." He attached the end of the billie club to the nearby roof and swung away, leaving Ms. Moon to stew on her new responsibilities.

* * *

**LastGraveDigger:** So serious question, but why did  **Spider-Woman**  and **Spider-Man**  work together? All respect to the guy but it's pretty clear that Spider-Woman's WAY stronger than he is so she really doesn't need his help.

**Lolrus555:**  Not everythings about strength man. Spider-Woman said before that her investigation skills aren't the best so it makes sense that she relied on someone else for that. Apparently Peter Parker was always smart.

**Veredis:**  That and it's not like he's helpless -embedded video- This was footage someone took of him and the Defenders fighting demons in Hells Kitchen. And according to the Black Cat Interviews Spider-Man was  _blind_ when they did this.

**KasugaRomio:**  That and he's one of the few heroes who fights the supernatural along with  **Moon Knight** and  **Fire Biker**.  **Black Cat** confirmed she and the rest of the Defenders were just there cause they hated Murdock not to fight demons.

**LastGraveDigger:**  Speaking of anyone notice that there are  _way_  more demons and Vampires and shit running around? Did a hellgate open while I wasn't looking?

**Veredis:**  Murdock said in an interview that the demon possessing him kept people from seeing them. Now that he's gone everyone else is out in the open.

**KasugaRomio:**  What we really need are more heroes who can fight them. I mean fucking look at this **\- embedded image-**  That's Moon Knight  _punching ghosts_! Love to see Captain America do that...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done. I'll admit I enjoyed writing the second part more than the first, although it ended up feeling rather flat since I had to tone down the corrupt cop's segments to fit a bit more with the T rating. I also re-wrote his character so he ended up having some standards rather than being a complete asshole who was willing to sleep with kids.
> 
> That and it's been a while since I wrote someone so cynical and assholish so I wanted to try again. May write more of these types of segments dependent on the reception and my mood.
> 
> As for the new baby symbiote (name still pending), I based it off of Gortys from Borderlands and Jarro from Justice League. Whether it comes off as cute or really damn annoying depends on you.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Not sure if I asked this before, but why exactly did you guys vote for Laura? Is it really just cause 'she's smol' and nothing else?
> 
> 2\. I wonder if you guys would've preferred if Cindy remained naive and childish like when I first introduced her or if you guys prefer her more cynical, dour characterization now. Essentially she went from being a less strict Gwen (original personality) to a less assholish Noir (new personality).
> 
> 3\. Do you guys miss/want more of the arguments Noir and Gwen had before or do you prefer their much more stable relationship now?


	27. New Adventures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's shorter than normal but review for the exams really has me swamped and I can't focus. It's also mostly setup, so hopefully the next chapter lives up to what I'm going for here.
> 
> Anyway, a part of me is really looking back on the Noir/Gwen ship given the new arguments people have made that Gwen might be aromantic in canon. Too late to do anything about it now but it might've been fun to tackle the idea of that kind of personality.
> 
> By the way, I put up a new poll on the authors page at fanfiction. This one's more lighthearted and more of a curiosity thing.

_"Welcome back to just the facts with J. Jonah Jameson. Now I've been getting a lot of 'tweets' asking me what my opinion is on those two menaces splitting up. People expect, not unjustifiably, that I have a well thought out opinion given my focus on both of their crimes."_

_"Well, here's what I think about it: NOTHING! And do you know why? Because I don't concern myself with the lovelives of two no good criminals! Now I will admit that I told my viewers of my SLIGHT sympathy for Spider-Man given Spider-Woman's deviancy, but I simply wanted to warn the public to keep their children safe from that masked jezebelle! It doesn't mean I care about 'ships' or any other nonsense the youth of today care about!"_

_"So Spider-Man and Spider-Woman broke up, what does it matter? They're still menaces and they're still going around thinking themselves above the law and the people they claim to protect! Until they go to the proper authorities with mask in hand I'll continue my thankless work of exposing them as the menaces they are! Frankly it makes me sad knowing that of all things people focus on it's that these two criminals aren't making kissy faces anymore!"_

_"Now, we should focus on actual news. According to eyewitness testimony Spider-Man's new group of deviants KIDNAPPED A CHILD! Now I think..."_

* * *

"You seem cheery."

Matt looked down and grinned while Peter glared up at him, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. The both of them were at their designated rooftop waiting for Echo to finally show herself after she'd skipped out last time. A short distance away was Moon Knight and Rand, the former with his eyes glued to a tablet while the latter tried (and failed) to meditate.

"Oh?" Matt drawled lazily, "You can tell that?"

"Yeah, and I know that's not a good sign." The blind bastard only smiled when someone else was suffering. Nowadays he kept it to the dregs of humanity but he couldn't ignore the idea of him slipping back, "Who'd you kill?"

"Peter, I am offended at the notion that you think I have to kill someone in order to find enjoyment in life!" He said, voice high with mock offense. Peter just looked at him flatly, "But if you must know I've been out and about with a delightful young woman."

"It doesn't count if you have to pay for it, Matt."

Matt, as expected, just laughed at that. He had to admit he found it more than a little annoying that nothing ever seemed to faze the blind bastard, "Bold of you to assume our relationship is in that nature. No, no, I'm certain that she hates me." And yet he was still smiling. Peter wanted to punch him in the face again but he knew that he'd still smile on top of that.

"I feel sorry for whoever has to put up with you..."

"It's a mutually beneficial agreement, though I suspect that'll soon come to an end now that she's found a new confidant." He smirked and played with the escrima stick with one hand, "But why are we only discussing my relationships? After all you're the one who's part of New York's premier Super couple. Or was, given your fake break-up. Tell me, how are you and Miss. Stacy doing?"

"That's none of your business."

"Oh? And here I was worried about you. Considering your current condition I wondered how you and Ms. Stacy handled the physical aspects of your so-called ended relationship."

"...What the hell are you suggesting?"

Was he seriously...

"Suggesting? Me? I would never!" He gasped dramatically, "I'm simply expressing my friendly concern that perhaps Ms. Stacy might be taking advantage of you. Love, after all, is blind and given how she often wears her heart on her sleeve I wouldn't be surprised if her feelings for you overcame her reluctance at your new state. True love conquers all, hm?"

He was.

If looks could kill then Peter's glare wouldn't have even left behind a corpse to bury. Matt leaned back on the vent and grinned smugly while Peter looked a hair's breath from taking out his pistol (loaned from Moon Knight) and shooting him between the eyes. Even Moon Knight and Rand stopped to look, the former looking between the two of them warily while the latter alternated between concern and disgust at Matt's suggestion.

"I'm simply worried about you, Peter. We've all heard Jameson's rants on her deviancy-"

Peter unholstered his gun and shot him right in the chest. It was a warning shot - the caliber was low and he aimed at where the body armor was thickest - but he knew it'd leave a nasty bruise at least. Matt fell off the vent and landed on his back, wheezing slightly before laughing again and making another terrible joke. None of them bothered to help him up, not even Rand.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait long for Echo to arrive. She landed on the roof with a graceful flip and stopped when she caught sight of him. They hadn't told her about his condition, though that was mostly because he figured that she wouldn't care. Nothing ever seemed to faze her.

"Good, you're finally here." He stepped off the pipe and jerked his thumb to Moon Knight, "Spector's looking for a new in we might have and a couple of us need to interrogate Sowande so-"

He was cut off when she suddenly crouched down (damn he was short...) in front of him and poked his right cheek. He hadn't bothered to wear a mask just yet and the narrow glare he sported was clear for all to see. Despite that the quiet woman's only response was to tilt her head slightly and poke his cheek again while Matt snickered behind them.

She tried to go for a third when he batted away her hand, "What the hell are you doing?"

"She's simply curious, Peter," Matt said, "Children are used by the Hand, certainly, but they're often kept in different locations till they reach their teenage years. I was one of the few exceptions given my abilities. Even then we never had much contact."

He finally managed to push her off before he turned to Matt, "Contact? You're saying you're the same age?" That didn't match. She looked like a teenager, maybe a few years past 20 if they pushed it.

"Oh no, I assume she's much older than I am. Don't be fooled by her appearance. While I can't make out her physical features due to my condition, I assure you that she's more than old enough to match the Parkers or the former Captain Stacy."

"Let me guess: Chi?" He wasn't even surprised anymore. If Stick could move like that at the ripe young age of 106 then someone like Echo shouldn't have been a surprise. He really should've figured it out sooner.

"That and some combination of her status as the Black Sky, which is why I was surprised at her turning against the Hand so soon. At first I believed that she thought you could free her from her binds, but then I realized she had less self-centered reasons. Such as family."

Echo turned to Matt, her narrowed eyes obvious even through her mask, but made no move to do anything else. Both Peter and Rand looked at Matt questioningly while Moon Knight grunted and paid them no mind, "You weren't curious why she wasn't present the night prior?"

"Lana told me that she helped her rescue that friend of hers." He still had no idea why, but he owed her for that.

"Yes, well, it's common for parents to come to their child's rescue, isn't it?"

It didn't take long for the words to sink in, "Child? ...You're saying that Aracely girl is-"

"Her daughter, yes." Matt hummed, "I can only assume that the Hand were unaware of that fact or simply didn't care when they had a hand, pun intended, in imprisoning her with the rest of those poor people down at the docks. I doubt it's a coincidence that she chose to ally with us shortly after your adopted sister rescued her daughter. If it were anyone else who came to her rescue I doubt she'd be here now."

Peter turned back to the quiet ninja, "Does she know?" A pause then a brief shake of the head, "...Do you plan to tell her?" Another shake, "So I'm guessing that means you don't want us to tell her either."

He didn't need a reply to that. Iron Fist frowned and stood, "But why? Maybe I don't know enough to say so, but wouldn't she be happy to find out her mother's alive? I mean Moon Knight's back together with Wasp and they have a daughter together."

"Not everything ends up happily, Daniel," Spector said, still not looking up from the screen, "While I and Janet are attempting to reconcile our previous relationship Hope has lived without a father for the first 9 years of her life and is obviously reluctant to start a relationship now. I expect that we will never truly bond as family given the almost decade we've spent apart and I assume that the same will occur if Echo makes overtures to a mother-daughter bond."

"But..."

"Take it from me, Danny - absence doesn't really make the heart grow fonder. My mother and I are more than enough proof of that." Matt said.

"We're wasting time here." Peter frowned and looked to Moon Knight, "Are you done with whatever that is?"

"Yes." He dismissed the screen and moved to join them, "I have been in contact with Maria Hill. She is currently working with the FBI and they're investigating some of the Hand's assets."

"And here I was hoping Hill choked on a lemon when I wasn't looking." Admittedly he didn't have as much of a grudge against the former agent as one might've expected. He still wasn't a fan after what she did to him and being complicit with hiding the truth but after S.H.I.E.L.D's (sort of) confession and public dissolution he found it hard to keep the anger up.

"And what does the former agent tell us?" Matt asked.

"Currently they're investigating the Hand's human trafficking operations. Different Fingers gather from different pools but a decent size of the Hand's forces come from victims whose minds they break." Yeah, he knew that already. The only reason that he hadn't been crushed by the guilt was because he also knew that the change was permanent. Once their minds were broken there was nothing left but puppet for the Hand to manipulate.

"The Hand are monsters, we already knew that. What does that have to do with our current plan?"

"Children are one of the most sought after resources." Moon Knight stared down at him and Peter immediately understood, "While the broken puppets are numerous they are just that - puppets. Little use beyond tossing at enemies till they expire. They have no intelligence, no creativity, and that makes them limited. A child that has been indoctrinated, however..."

"All of the loyalty, none of the diminished use." Matt laughed under his breath, "But of course that leads to the possibility of them turning against you such as Echo and even myself, to an extent. Evidently they consider it a worthy enough investment to keep at it."

"I'm guessing you want me to play the part of a new 'investment'?" Peter asked.

"Yes. The Hand know our faces now, but your unexpected transformation could be a boon. We could plant you into one of their shipping containers while you play the part of the innocent victim. You will have to play your role and gather information. Safehouses, assets, anything we can use to track them down. We will have minimal contact with you until extraction."

"I'm not sure I like this idea," Rand said, "We're putting Spider-Man into a lot of risk with this. And if you know where one of their containers is why don't we just save the kids?"

"Because even finding this one container took Maria Hill months of investigations and interrogations. We can rescue those children tonight, but there will be dozens if not hundreds more that are shipped to the Hand's waiting clutches. If Spider-Man should succeed here then we can put a stop to this operation, cutting off both a source of the Hand's forces and saving any future victims."

"The needs of the many, huh?" Spider-Man sighed. He saw the logic in it, but he wasn't much a fan of the idea of going days pretending to be the victim, "Guessing you'll inject me with those nano codec things Cin has?"

"Correct. A reminder that you should only contact us in order to relay info or in the case of an emergency. Echo and Matthew will track the vans while Iron Fist and I will stay in order to interrogate Sowande."

"Don't suppose you'll give me some time to tell my friends not to worry?" The last thing he needed was Lana or Gwen panicking and breaking down doors once he went three days without contact.

"Be quick about it. The shipping container will be emptied soon."

Peter rolled his eyes and made a group call. All of them answered except for Mary, which he didn't think too much about. Probably off doing her 'side job'. He explained it as quickly as he could- going undercover, cutting off contact for at least a few days, the works. Gwen and Lana, as expected, were rather put off while Cindy and Norah just told him to be careful and take pictures, respectively.

"Listen, I really have to go." It was just him and Gwen now, "I'll be fine, okay?"

"I still don't like this. I mean I'd get it if you were going undercover while you're normal, but as a 7 year old? I know you still have your powers, but..."

"I didn't help kill a demon just to get taken out by his toadies. I'll be fine." He smiled at her, "Besides, you're the one who's going to deal with Roxxon, remember? Compared to that this is gonna be easy."

"Not so sure about that..."

"Just trust me. I love you."

"I love you too."

He cut the call and made his way back to the others, "Say a single word and I'm putting the next bullet through your mouth, Matt." The Devil of Hell's Kitchen held up his hands in mock surrender and didn't say another word, "Alright, gimme the injection. Let's get this over with."

Moon Knight handed him the syringe and he injected it to his neck with a slight wince. He hated needles, "Right, anything else we need?"

"It will look more believable if you showed signs of injury. The Hand often take the desperate and those who they believe will be open to their indoctrination."

And then he pulled out a knife. Peter just sighed and took the offered blade. If he slept it'd heal, but he wasn't planning on it. Wouldn't have been the first time he didn't sleep for days on end.

"Anyone says anything they're getting shot. You too, Rand." He dug the knife through his upper left arm and hissed. The cut wasn't too deep, but it was enough to look nasty. Rand looked distinctly sick and turned away. Peter didn't blame him. He might've had the stomach for it if Peter had been normal but seeing a 7 year old cut himself with a knife wasn't something most people could look at.

The the next one went to his right cheek down to his jaw. Peter grit his teeth to keep from saying anything and made a two final cuts, one at the right side of his stomach and another at the left half of his forehead, "Oh, I think I'm going to be sick." Rand covered his mouth with one hand and looked a hair's breath away from heaving his dinner. Moon Knight, Echo and Matt (of course) just watched.

"This good enough?" He looked up at Moon Knight with a glare, which must've looked even worse considering his bloody state.

"It is adequate." He took the knife back and turned his attention to Echo, "Help Spider-Man sneak into the cargo container. No deaths; we cannot risk any suspicion falling to us."

Echo nodded and offered him a hand. Peter stared blankly at the offered limb before he sneered and turned invisible. He might've looked like a kid now but he was still Spider-Man, damn it.

* * *

**Private Message:**

**FlowersForAll:** **FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman,** we'd like to sincerely thank you again for visiting our Joey at the hospital two weeks ago. He was so happy he got to meet with his hero.

**FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman** : Oh hey! :) Yeah it was really cool to hang out with him. When can I visit him next? I want to congratulate him on his treatment and show him that mask I got him! I had a friend of mine help me with it ;)

**FlowersForAll:**  I'm afraid that's not possible. There were complications with the next batch of surgery a couple of days ago and he...

**FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:**  Oh...I am so sorry. Things were going so well last time and I thought that...

**FlowersForAll:**  Yes, it was a surprise to us too. It...I know I'm asking for a lot, but we're going to be having a funeral and we were hoping that you could attend. We'll understand if that's not possible, of course.

**FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:**  I'm definitely coming. Just message me the date and time and I'll be there, you have my word.

**FlowersForAll:**  Thank you. Again I know we're asking for a lot but we promised him you'd come visit again after the surgery and I thought that this would be the least we could do.

**FriendlyNeighborhoodSpiderWoman:** I understand. Don't worry, Mrs. Sanchez, I'll be there.

* * *

Norah scooted back on her chair and yawned, rubbing her eyes idly with one hand. Another day and another scoop that left her feeling like the overworked intern. Not that she was complaining, mind you. Robbie gave her mostly free reign once he figured out that she could get scoops and didn't kill anyone...directly. Self-defense was self-defense and she'd been on the firing range a lot.

It'd been a day since Ben went undercover and so far things had been pretty slow. She didn't even get a chance to make fun of him cause of how serious the call was...

"Here." Gabe put a cup of coffee on the table and and smiled shyly.

"Thanks." Norah smiled back and took a sip of the caffeinated goodness. She still kinda felt guilty having the kid around her so much. Most teenagers were out having fun with friends, breaking the rules and whatever, not cooped up in a journalist's apartment researching ancient ninjas and crime rings. Least she could give the kid a glowing recommendation on any resume he had.

"Any luck on your end? I've been hitting dead ends?"

"Nah." She gestured to the screen, "Rumors and whispers, but nothing concrete. My guys on the street are pretty tight lipped too. Something's got them scared." Not that that was hard to do. Druggies and bums knew a lot but they weren't exactly willing to put their neck out most of the time.

"Yeah, me either. Eugene's been looking around too but he hasn't gotten anything."

"Oh really?  _Such_  a shock there." She snorted and rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she hated Frog-Man or anything, but the guy was pretty damn annoying at the best of times. She didn't worry too much about him. Anyone with half a brain would figure he was harmless (useless) enough and wouldn't bother going after him. She worried about Gabe, though.

"Yeah..." He rubbed the back of his head and shifted his feet awkwardly, "So...d'you mind if I ask for some advice?"

"Sure. Something with 'work'?"

"Um...no, it's actually personal."

"Oooh, is it about that crush you have on Lana?" The tan teenager's cheeks turned red and Norah grinned, "Yup, I know about that. I see all and know all." That and Lana mentioned it off-hand a while ago, but Gabe didn't need to know that.

"Y-Yeah- actually, it's kinda half in half." He sat down across her and lifted Benjamin to his lap, "Aracely kinda made things awkward when she just...blurted out all of our secrets." Lana told her about that too. It was how she found out Gabe and apparently MVP liked her. She took it rather well, all things considered, "So she told everyone that I liked Lana but then she also said that..."

"That Sue Storm liked you." If she was as morally bankrupt as Katzenburg she would've been through the moon. She could see the headlines now - 'America's Sweetheart likes former drug dealer'. Tabloids and fansites would've eaten that crap up, "Thought you'd be thrilled. Fanboys would kill to be where you're at."

"I dunno. I mean Sue's really pretty and she's a good person, but...we haven't really talked about it since Aracely brought it up. We still hang out and all but there's this...awkward feeling in the air, you know? The only one who don't act like anything's weird are Lana and Aracely."

"To be fair Lana did have to go through the mess that was last year. Pretty sure finding out your friend had a crush on you is pretty low on the things that'll shock you." Not to mention she had(?) a crush on a guy who slept with her mom, but she didn't tell Gabe that.

"I guess. I dunno, I just...I wanna get rid of that awkward feeling in the air. I miss just hanging out and having fun again."

"You can't rush these things. Trust me, I've been there and if you try to push too hard you'll end up going over the edge. Just take it slow and talk about it when you're all ready." She smiled and took Benjamin from his lap, "Now, if you'll excuse me I've gotta go shopping. Benjamin's particularly picky about his kibble and you do  _not_ want to see him when he pouts."

The nearby 24 hour mall (courtesy of Tony Stark, cause of course it was) was an all too familiar haunt. She grabbed one of the red baskets and Benjamin immediately took step beside her, "Meet you at the usual spot?" He barked happily then skidded off to the pet food section. Norah had already given up trying to figure out why he was so damn smart and well trained considering his last owner was Ben.

She was in the middle of picking out some new easy-bake meals when he came trotting back with a bag of kibble his mouth. He nudged it over the basket and looked up at her with his trademark puppy dog eyes, "I don't like that look you're giving me." He zipped out and came back with another, far more expensive brand. And more puppy dog eyes.

"Geez, Benjy, you think I'm made of money or something?" He whimpered and looked like he was about to cry. She sighed and tossed it into the basket, "We really gotta get your dad to pay child support." He barked happily and took the basket by his teeth when she put the last of her groceries in. They both made their way to the cashier, who was not at all surprised to see a dog nudging a basket and then a wallet onto the counter.

She was barely out of the store when her phone rang. An unknown number, "Hello?"

"Norah Winters." Her grip on the phone tightened at the sound of the digitized voice. Never a good sign, "You've been looking into our dealings."

"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific there Mr. Voicechanger. I butt into a lot of people's business, it's kind of my thing." She already hit the SOS button on her spare phone and started walking again. Had to buy time.

"You get one warning: Back off. We won't ask a second time."

"Aww, and here I was hoping we could get to know each other better. I like to get personal with the people threatening me."

The call ended. Norah looked down at the empty screen and sneered. This was just what she needed... "Hey, Gabe? Yeah, I gotta go away for a few. Yeah, you know what. Be careful, okay?" She shut off her phone and started making her way to Frank's nearest safehouse. Best thing to do was hole herself up for a bit then call the others.

It didn't take long for her to see the person behind her. He stuck out like a sore thumb - finely pressed blue suit, slicked back hair and shoes that barely had any stains...definitely not someone who spent a lot of time in the Kitchen. He kept pace with her easily and as the seconds ticked by he got closer and closer.

She ran as soon as she rounded the corner with Benjamin following. The guy immediately ran after her and she dropped some pellets behind her. The small, metal capsules hissed before expelling a thick plume of smoke, "Woah!" Bullets whizzed by her head and she took the revolver out of her bag. As soon as she caught a hint of blue she pulled the trigger twice and kept running.

More bullets came from the left. Benjamin yelped and she barely managed to duck into the alley before more bullets came. She counted at least two more suited hitmen chasing after her, "Seriously? All this just for me? I'm flattered!" She shouted back.

Three more goons came out on the other side of the alley before a red blur took them out. Must've been MJ. She barely had time to scream out a 'thanks!' before she crashed through the side door and ran down the stairs, "Come on, come on..." She yanked the keypad's lock away and input the code as quick as she could, "Damn it Frank, did you have to make these so damn long?!"

The door opened with a click and a gunshot rang out. The hitman behind her fell down the stairs with a hole through his head while in front of her...

"Frank?"

Frank Castle - The Punisher - lowered his pistol and looked down at her. He didn't look all that different from when she saw him last. Same skull shirt, same messy beard and same scowl. Only thing that caught her eye were the new scars dotted across his face.

"Getting into trouble again."

"Look who's talking." Despite how quick her heart was beating she pushed him back inside and locked the door behind her once Benjamin was in. MJ could deal with the rest outside, "Didn't realize you were even back in town." In all honesty she didn't think she'd ever actually see him again. From all appearances it looked like he was set to making Mexico his new permanent haunt.

"Wasn't advertising."

"Right...so, why are you here? Thought you were in Mexico?"

"Murdock called me." Well... _that_  wasn't what she expected to hear, "Thought about coming back just to kill him, but he made a decent enough argument. I have bigger targets to focus on than a collared ex-lawyer. Like the people you're searching for."

Right...something told her the Punisher's comeback wasn't going to end well.

* * *

**ArkT:**   **Spider-Man's**  been MIA for a couple of days now. Is he really that bummed about the breakup?

**Noisy-Cricket:** Must be. I mean I'd be pretty bummed if I broke up with **Spider-Woman**.

**SpiderGod766:**  Bet he's really regretting it.

**ThatGeekyGuy:**  Why's everyone assuming it's cause of the breakup? He was active before he and Spider-Woman got together and he and the Defenders raided that building a couple of days. Maybe he's off doing hero shit like he usually does?

**Lolrus555:**  But he broke up with Spider-Woman! That must mean everything he does now is defined by that breakup! /s

**Brave2000:**  Yeah i gotta agree. He and Spider-Woman broke up so what? A lot of people break up and most of em don't let it get to them that much. Ya'll acting like its the end of the world. So dumb.

**JediRecall:**  I'm more worried about how dangerous he'll be. It was pretty obvious that Spider-Woman kept him on a leash. Now that he's gone what the fucks he gonna start doing?

**Lolrus555:**  A leash? Dude killed a fuckload of ninjas and put down a down in Times Square. And you must've seen some of the pics of him fighting that warlord in South Africa. If she kept him on a leash it was a shitty one.

**ThatGeekyGuy:**  Yeah anyone who says Spider-Woman was keeping him tied down is talking out of their ass. Dude's a killer.

* * *

She was so  _bored_.

Laura looked up at the ceiling and swung her legs idly. Shadowcat had taken her to visit Wasp both for her daily check up (they needed to make sure the code phrases were still suppressed) and because Shadowcat did the occasional job for the Dr. Superhero. Shadowcat never told her what the jobs were and she didn't ask. She just assumed there was a lot of blood involved.

Right now she was outside while Shadowcat and Wasp talked. Hope was still at school so now she was just bored again. She wished Peach and Spot were here, "Bored..." She finally stood and wandered around aimlessly. Dad, Felicity and Gene had already gone back and she already missed them. Why couldn't the stupid man with the red skull die already so her dad could stay here?

Sighing for the hundredth time that hour, she made her way to Hope's room and and smiled when she caught the familiar scents inside. Hope's room always felt different than the other places. Wasp's labs always felt so cold and sterile - just like the facility there the monsters tortured her. Hope's room felt comfy.

She jumped on the bed and heard a loud squeak. Her head snapped to the source of the voice and something whizzed by her, "Laura!" She blinked at the three inch tall Hope flying in front of her, "What are you doing here?"

"Shadowcat is visiting and she took me along." Hope's shrunken state didn't surprise her. She did it often and with great enjoyment in order to fly, "I thought you were at school?"

"We got suspended cause of something the teacher did, but I didn't wanna tell mom." She looked around conspiratorially (a word they taught her at school) and flew in closer. Laura had to cross her eyes to see the grin on her face, "Mom's hiding something! Gwen and the others were here and I bet she made the new baby, but mom wouldn't let me see it even after I promised to be careful!"

"A baby?" Laura looked at her with interest. He found infants fascinating, if only because they were so different from everything else. All her life she'd grown up surrounded by adults, many of whom wished to hurt her and she was bred to kill. Even Shadowcat acted far older than her 19 years. Babies were innocent. They cried and demanded and acted spoiled, but they didn't have malice.

"Yeah! Well, not like you and me were, but still a baby!"

"What do you wish to do?"

"I wanna see it, duh!" She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, "Mom won't let us in if we just ask her so I'll sneak us inside. We can totally be in and out before she sees a thing!"

"Let's do it then." Laura nodded.

A few minutes later both she and Hope were shrunk to under a few inches in height and with her best friend carrying her by the armpits through one of the vents, "Mom said we're only supposed to use the vents in case of an emergency, so don't tell her anything!" Laura hummed, "I wonder what Gwen's baby is like. She said she was already talking!"

"Already?"

"Yeah, apparently symbiotes learn to talk super fast!" Symbiote? Like the one the hooded Spider wore? Odd, she didn't know they made babies, "Gwen said it was nice so I really wanna talk to it. They even said they were looking for a partner for it like Gwen and Webster are."

The room wasn't empty when they got there. There was a man there dressed head to toe in a black, airtight suit standing in front of the baby's enclosure. Hope re-grew them and they hid behind a nearby cabinet, "Who is that?" Lana whispered. Hope shook her head and didn't say a word, but she was obviously scared by the sudden intruder, "Bad guy?"

"I think so..."

Laura narrowed her eyes looked to the camera on the wall. Hope likely hadn't even considered the idea of getting caught, but the man's confidence indicated he was either similarly short-sighted or he'd already dealt with it beforehand, "Oooh, come to papa!" He started reaching for the retreating pink blob. Laura unsheathed her claws - the first time she'd done so in almost a year - and stalked closer to her target.

Down the line she'd blame what happened next on dulled instincts. Shadowcat had ensured she had no need to fight for the past year, almost violently so.  _'You deserve a chance to be a kid. You still wanna be fucked up and kill people when you're older, fine, but we'll deal with that later'_ , she said. And so her training had rusted to the back of her mind. She still remembered, yes, but lack of practice made it difficult to fall back to old habits.

And so she didn't even realize the hint of her reflection on the glass encasing before it was too late.

Laura slashed at his right leg to disable him. He suddenly shrunk out of sight and her claws only hit air. Before she could double back he re-grew to his previous size and uppercutted her in the jaw, "Almost got me there!" She growled and slashed at him again, and again he shrunk out of sight before suddenly appearing behind her. Laura spun around to kick and he shrunk to just an inch below the attack's arc.

His next punch sent her reeling to the table. Laura crashed against the enclosure and it fell to the ground with a loud impact. An alarm immediately blared out and he sighed, "Great, see what you gone and did? You got any idea how long I've been planning for this? The bossman ain't gonna be happy-"

Hope flew at his back and tackled him. He stumbled forward slightly, which gave Laura a chance to cut his throat and stab him in the stomach. Despite his injuries he shrunk once more and when Laura looked around she found no trace of him. She sniffed the air and frowned. The trail of blood led to the vents and ended there.

The door opened and both Shadowcat and Wasp charged in, claws and weapons raised, only to stop when they saw their states. Hope was hugging Laura tightly and asking if she was alright while she could only pat her back and reassure her. Mostly she felt embarrassed. She knew she hadn't fought in a while but to think she'd been so clumsy. If she'd been fighting against the machine men they would have done far worse than a couple of hits.

Hope frantically explained the situation to her mother while Shadowcat simply sighed, "I leave you alone for 15 minutes and you already get into trouble."

"I got that from you." Laura beamed up at her. Shadowcat didn't scold her, not really. In the year they've spent together she complained and they argued but one thing she was adamant about was that she wasn't her mother. They were sisters, and that meant she wouldn't mother her.

"Yeah, sure, be cute. Just wait till Cin and Petey hear about this." She grinned evilly.

"But-"

"No buts. Now lets get yours back home before you somehow manage to blow this whole place up."

Laura grumbled and pouted as she followed Shadowcat outside. She didn't even realize the pink blob that stuck to her back and sunk into her skin before it was already gone.

* * *

**rc48177:**   **Spinerette**  I know you get asked this a lot, but what are the actual chances of you ending up with Spider-Man? A lot of people are really curious since you two seem to be good friends.

**TheRedGhost22:**  Dude what makes you think she's gonna reply to that?

**rc48177:**  Couldn't hurt to ask.

**Spinerette:**  I've said it once and I'll say it again - less than ZERO. He's like a little brother to me. And I mean that literally since he's like ten years younger than I am. Why can't people be friends without everyone prying into it? Is this dimension just obsessed with people's love lives?

**ToastyIce:**  To be fair you guys seemed really close and similar. Made more sense than him and Spider-Woman.

**Spinerette:**  Since when are relationships sensible or how similar people are? My old boyfriend didn't like old comic books or video games like me but we got along great. He and Spider-Woman had their fights but there was something there.

**Eragen:**  Emphasis on was considering their explosive breakup.

**Spinerette:**  Doesn't mean I'm suddenly gonna be a cougar. I'm pushing 30 guys, I'm not gonna go after someone who isn't even old enough to drink.

**AlexTheSouthParkGhostRider:**  So what's your type then? ;)

**Spinerette:**  Not you.

**ToastyIce:**  Lol rekt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene with Laura and the symbiote was originally going to be different. In the first plan she and the symbiote would've talked and Laura eventually agreed to sneak it out after seeing how lonely it was. I took this out since I couldn't figure out a way for Laura to sneak it without getting caught by cameras. Having an intruder and it latching on in the panic solved that problem.
> 
> So yeah, Laura won the symbiote poll :/ My original choice was going to be that it attached to Helena during a dangerous situation, meaning it'd be a unique entity since the baby and the symbiote would've grown up together from almost birth. That and you'd have no idea of the family relation since it's Gwen's stepsister bonded with her technical baby. Oh well, maybe Laura can be good too.
> 
> Anyway so now we have Noir undercover in one of the Hand's indoctrination facilities, Norah running into a newly returned Punisher and Laura having unknowingly bonded to Pink Charlie Chocolate.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Do you guys want to keep MJ's segments as dark as they currently are or do we have it become lighter? She kinda ping pongs between the two dependent on whether she's alone or hanging out with other more lighthearted characters like Gwen or (later on) Frog-Man and Kate.
> 
> 2\. I'm curious, would you guys have kept reading if I didn't take user reviews into account and didn't pair Gwen and Noir/paired Noir off with Norah instead/pairing Gwen with Kate instead?
> 
> 3\. How did you guys feel about Original Noir and Shadowcat back in V1? Cause originally he and Cindy were going to be partners and Shadowcat and Laura were non-entities. Wonder if that would've been better or worse.


	28. The Problem with Kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter update, but I just finished Board exam a week ago (passed :D) and I'm currently undergoing another anxiety moment cause of thesis next year (hopefully the medication helps). That and I have a question to ask at the end of the chapter that's pretty important to future updates.
> 
> This chapter was primarily supposed to focus on Gwen's undercover deal with Roxxon but I decided to postpone that to the next chapter due to a bit of writers block.
> 
> Also, Matt and Peter getting along has a slight lead over them remaining enemies. Surprising considering the sheer amount of crap Matt put Peter through in V1 and the way he killed Bullseye.
> 
> Side Note - Noir's confirmed to make a comeback with a new miniseries on March 2020 dealing with WWII. And it's the same one who died in Geddon resurrected! Yes :

**ESUboi:**  Ugh, our next science paper's researching how **Spider-Woman** , **Spinerette**  or  **She-Hulk's**  powers work! I'm going to flunk!

**MaleAcademia:**  Seriously? I know science is always evolving but this seems super unfair.

**Galgamer** : You're lucky you already graduated  **MaleAcademia**. These new research classes and topics are freaking insane! I mean how the hell are we supposed to figure out how a radioactive spider gives you super strength? I don't think even Spider-Woman knows!

**CreamdelaKream:** Yeah honestly at this point we might as well be cavemen trying to explain gravity. Superpowers break all the established rules. Force equals mass times acceleration? What's that? Cause it sure as hell doesn't make any sense when Spinerette can jump up to a building from street level or lift a car despite being way lighter than it.

**GwenTheDrummerStacy:**  Guess I'm lucky I'm not taking any science classes. Sounds rough.

**ESUboi:**  Yeah seriously. You're lucky  **GwenTheDrummerStacy.**  If I'd known my degree would be 20% pseudoscience I would've never enrolled in it.

**GwenTheDrummerStacy:**  Just keep pushing. Who knows, maybe things will get better :)

* * *

So here he was stuck in a crate with a bunch of passed out kids while his skin throbbed from self-inflicted knife wounds. If he was lucky the disguise would work and they wouldn't ask too many questions. If he was unlucky they'd catch on and shoot him in the face. That wasn't even mentioning the smell of rusted metal or the fact that one of the older kids smelled like she urinated herself.

And yet it was still better than France.

Peter kept his eyes shut and listened. He'd snuck in here a scant two hours ago and so far he had nothing but the sounds of the wheels outside for company. There were other people locked in here with him, some as old as 16 or 17 and others even younger than he was at about 5 or 6. The Hand tried to cast a wide net, Spector said. Better to try with a lot and cut the dead weight down if they couldn't be...molded.

He wondered how the others were doing. Was Gwen out on patrol or already trying to charm that dirtbag Roxxon? Was Mary keeping a clear head? Were Lana and Cindy working together alright? It was silly - they took care of themselves just fine when he spent the year playing the wanderer - but thinking about them helped clear his head. Better than thinking of his 'team' did, at any rate.

Eventually the shaking drew to a stop. Peter adjusted his slumped position on the wall and and resisted the urge to open them. The children were taken from various places, but one thing they all had in common were having enough tranquilizers to take down an elephant.

The door opened with a loud creak and he heard footsteps, "Youngest ones out first." The voice was blank and devoid of all expression. Probably a ninja, "Place them with the others in their rooms." He grit his teeth when one of them grabbed him roughly and slung him over his shoulder.  _Play the role,_  he reminded himself. If he was stuck as a kid he'd at least find a way to use it to his advantage.

He counted the number of steps and turns before another door opened and he was eventually dropped not so gently onto a bed. He waited for the goon to turn around before he peeked his eye open by the slightest amount. A wide, brightly lit room with beds stacked into neat rows dozens at a time. Everything was an eye-searing white from the lights to the floor to the walls and bedsheets.

It was a 50/50 shot they'd end up here or in some concrete prison forced to kill each other. Least this way he wouldn't have to kill anyone who didn't deserve it.

The last bed was finally filled and the door slammed shut. Peter kept still and waited for some of the other kids to wake up first. Probably cameras around and the last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself.

'Little movement and lifesigns are stable.' Moon Knight's voice chimed in his head. He ignored it, 'We will continue to monitor the situation. Remember: keep to your cover at any cost. We only have one chance at this.'

Half an hour passed before the first of them finally began to stir, "Wh-What the-" Judging by the sound of the voice it was a teenager. A few more woke up around him and Peter made a show of a groggy awakening.

He counted at least three dozen around him, most of whom showed obvious signs of abuse. Bruises, clammy skin, malnourishment...if it were anyone else he would've thought this was a rescue mission of some kind. Peter eyed the more obvious cut on his arm and frowned. Once they got the information they needed they had to do something about these kids.

As expected, most of them were scared. It didn't take long for them to start screaming, crying and soon the entire room was covered in a cacophony of voices all trying to speak over the other. Peter pressed himself against the bed's headboard and hugged his knees to his chest. Playing the role of the innocent child wouldn't have been his first choice, but he'd done worse.

"Hey, where the fuck are we?!" One of the older girls screamed. She was at least 15 or 16 by the looks of her, "Hey! Let me the fuck out!" She banged against the dark brown door - the only splotch of color in the white canvas, "Hey! This isn't funny you bastards! Let me out!" She kicked the door. It didn't budge.

The younger children around him cried harder when she went and grabbed a boy who looked no older than 10, "Where are we?!" He almost snapped at her to calm down. She was panicking and lashing out at the closest person; he'd seen it more times than he wanted. Still, he couldn't stop himself from feeling annoyed at the idea that she thought a 10 year old could somehow give her the answers she wanted.

"L-Leave him alone!" A girl, another 10 year old, screamed, "W-W-We don't know why we're here!"

"Shut up!" The younger girl shrunk back, "I don't fucking know anything except for the fact that I got kidnapped! So just shut the fuck up unless you got something important to say!"

"B-But-"

It devolved into another argument from there. More screaming, more crying...he wanted to intervene, but Moon Knight's reminder rang back in his head, _'Damn it...'_  He pressed his face against his knees and forced a few tears out. He felt as pathetic as he looked. Hopefully it wouldn't take him long to find what he needed then burn this entire place to the ground.

Eventually, when the cacophony reached its peak, the door opened. Peter raised his head slowly and watched a woman enter the room with two goons behind her. Just like the rest of the room they were dressed in complete white, "Good evening everyone." She was a young woman, probably 30 at the oldest, with light blonde hair done up in a neat bun and a motherly smile that reminded him of May.

He didn't trust her at all.

"Who the fuck are you?!" The screaming teenager asked, "Were you the one who kidnapped us?! I'm gonna-"

"Shh." She held up finger like a parent disciplining an unruly child, "There's no need for an outburst, Ellie."

"How the fuck do you know my-"

"We know a lot of things about you. How you came from a broken home, how your foster father attempted to use his position to take advantage of you while your mother told you that you deserve it. And we know you ran away from home when it became too much." Despite her cutting words the motherly smile remained constant.

"Wh-What the-"

"All of you are victims." She went past the screaming teenager and gave them all a look of practiced sympathy, "Children who were never given a chance to live their lives because of the uncaring society around them. You were abused, broken, treated like you were unwanted."

"You kidnapped us." A teenage boy muttered.

She stopped in front of him. Peter looked up at her, tears still in his eyes, and flinched when she traced a hand against his cheek, "P-Please don't hurt me..." He had to stop himself from breaking her fingers when she stopped at one of his scars.

"Do you see?" She turned away from him back to the others, "Kidnapped you? From who? From living in the streets and having to beg for scraps? From parents who would hurt you because they've had too much to drink? From those who would treat you as a  _toy_  for their own desires." She looked the teenager - Ellie - dead in the eyes, "Those are who you wish to reunite with?"

None of them said a word, not even the then-screaming teenager. Ultimately she was right about that. Kidnapping or not, many of these children had nowhere to go. What did they have to come back to? Broken homes or, even worse, living on the streets not sure if they'd survive to the next day?

And like any good cult leader she was there to offer them a way out. To 'save' them.

"But I'm not unreasonable. Some of you wish to remain 'independent', to live through life 'on your own terms'? Then by all means. You can walk out that door right now and these two men will escort you outside. However, I want to make it clear that this invitation will not come a second time. If you find yourself changing your mind and wanting our help then you won't find it."

"How the fuck do we know you ain't just gonna shoot us? Or like harvest our organs or shit?" Ellie asked.

"My dear, if we wanted to kill you then you wouldn't have woken up." And still with that damn smile on her face, "We wish to offer you a home, but as I've said if you wish to leave then by all means. Go back to your life and pick up the pieces on your own. We will not stop you."

She didn't. None of them did. She was playing on their fear (or maybe they were just scared they'd get shot as soon as they were outside). He'd seen in Spider-Man's memories how quick people were to turn their freedom when offered an escape. How many people turned against their neighbors just because they were offered clothes and a warm meal? Children especially. Not everyone could be like Lana or Gabriel.

Still, these kids were falling in line just a bit too easily. Surely at least some would take their chances on the streets rather than put their trust in someone who kidnapped them. There was something about that woman - he'd have to keep an eye on her.

"No? Hm." She went back to the front of the room and clapped her hands together, "Good. Now that we've got that out of the way we should all move on and get to know each other better. At the footlocker of each bed you'll find a set of clothes. They'll be a bit too loose or tight but we can measure you all more properly later. Please change into them then, when you're all done, knock on the door. Philip here will lead the uninjured to the dining room and those that require aid will be sent to the clinic for treatment."

"What, change together?" Another girl asked.

"Yes. You'll all be getting to know each other better so might as well start now."

The clothes were white too, what a surprise. Peter sighed and shucked off his bloodstained clothes before putting on the ones closest to his size. White shirt, white pants, white shoes...he felt like a clown. The clothes brushed against the cuts at his side and he sat down on the bed to watch the others. Some of them were even more injured than he was.

"Are...Are you okay?" he looked up to the boy who asked. They looked to be about the same age with maybe a year or two difference. His dark skin and curly hair contrasted heavily with the clothes and the room,"Those cuts on your face..."

"A-Ah, yeah! I'm...I'm okay..." He'd had worse, but he could hardly tell them that, "M-My daddy Marc he...he sometimes gets angry and he..." He sniffled. Thank  _God_  Gwen and the others weren't around to see this. He wasn't exactly the best actor.

"Oh...just like mine." Peter's hands clenched into shaky fists. The Hand took the most desperate. Bastards, "M-Maybe things will be better here?"

Peter didn't say anything. Four more goons came, two leading one group to the dining hall while they were taken to the clinic. The doctor there was all smiles and comforting words, bandaging their wounds and telling them they'd be safe now and no one would ever hurt them again. He didn't need his spider-sense to tell him that was a load of horsefeathers.

Ten minutes later he was shoulder to shoulder between two kids and eating pumpkin soup. Probably laced with something, though he didn't have to worry about that. His eyes scanned every same white uniform, eating the same food; all perfectly identical. Moon Knight told him a year ago that they used similar tactics to the military when it came to getting soldiers. He could've sworn Castle almost shot him for that comparison.

"What's your name?" The kid to his right - the same one from before - asked.

"R-Reilly. You?"

"Hobie."

"So...why did you stay?"

"M-My mom and dad are...they're bad people." He got the feeling that was a massive understatement, "And that lady she...I think she really wants to help us." Peter's eyes narrowed. Definitely something up with her. Either pheromone control like that Killgrave Jones mentioned or something like the charm Satanna had. Trouble either way.

"...How did you get here?"

"I...I was...I ran away after mom and dad started fighting. A man found me and said that he could help me and then...and then I woke up here." And it was either this or going back to the waste of skin he had for parents. He wondered just how many of the ninjas he'd killed were just desperate kids looking for a way out before the Hand twisted them into their puppets.

"Yeah, me too."

Conversation died down after that. Peter focused on his food and thought about his plan for the next few days. It'd be difficult to sneak around, but with his powers he could make do. Still, he'd need to find blindspots in the cameras. Or find a way to get rid of them without drawing attention. He really wished he didn't come in here unarmed. One of Bullseye's old jammers would've been real useful right now.

The woman clapped her hands loudly to get their attention. A man stepped up behind her and Peter had to hold back a sneer, _'Bakuto.'_ He'd ran into him before back in Japan. He was the Face of the Hand, the good looking guy with the pearly whites who distracted you while his buddies shanked you in the back.

He looked different than the other fingers. Gao, Sowande, Murakami and the now-deceased Alexandra didn't look their hundreds of years of age, but they at least showed some wear and tear. Bakuto was different. Fancy suits, well groomed hair and a face that barely showed any wrinkles or signs of aging. If it was anyone else he might've assumed they were a vampire.

"Good evening everyone. I see we have some new faces here." His voice was smooth and friendly. Had to be after centuries of playing the same act, "Now I know the way we took you here was questionable-" Peter sneered down into his bowl, "-but we only want what's best for you all. Here you'll be safe and you'll have a chance to have what was cruelly never given to you: a family."

He almost charged him then and there. Moon Knight would've been annoyed, but taking out one of the Fingers would've been worth it, right? His grip on the spoon (cause they weren't given forks or knives) tightened and he shoveled more soup into his mouth. They only had one shot at this. After this the Hand would catch on to what he was and they couldn't do this again.

Peter waited till dinner finished and everyone was milling out. He bent the handle of the spoon till it snapped off with a small click and he put both the handle and the head under the long sleeve. Wasn't the best shiv, but he'd had worse.

This was going to be a  _long_  few days.

* * *

**Cyclopz:**  Is anyone else weirded out by how many vigilantes there are nowadays? And I'm not taking about sanctioned heroes, I mean actual vigilantes.

**Mista:** Not really. I mean it's just like when there were cowboys over a 100 years ago and pirates before that and gladiators before that. History's shown us that there are time periods of flux and fall. Like the Golden Age of Cowboys and Pirates, Vigilantes are the new in thing and they'll pass eventually.

**Titan616:**  Not so sure about that. I mean 10 years ago you'd be lucky if you saw Captain America in public and now you can't walk down the block without running into another Initiative hero.

**Mista:**  Yeah, and during the 1870's cowboys and outlaws were everywhere till they started dropping off and disappeared. I give this craze another 30 years before vigilantes get phased out for something else.

**Brave2000:** Superheroes are a normal part of everyday life now so i'm not surprised vigilantes are too. Remember less than a couple of years ago Spider-Woman, Hawkeye and Spinerette would've been called vigilantes. Things change.

**Cyclopz:**  I still don't like how normal it all is now. Couple years ago a guy putting on a gun and ski mask and killing suspected criminals would've gotten a lot of attention, now people don't give a shit.

**Titan616:**  New York's been hit with devils, superpowered terrorists, aliens and the terrigen mist. And you're surprised that vigilante sprees aren't a big deal any more?

**Booksnake:**  As an upcoming lawyer the fact that no one really cares about the constant flaunting of the law's pretty disheartening.

**Brave2000:**  Considering the last well-known lawyer ended up being the Kingpin of Crime and a freaking Devil on top of that I think you wanna think of a career change buddy.

* * *

Contrary to what one might think, Cindy hadn't been to many Parent-Teacher conferences. Sure she wasn't an honor student or anything, but she kept her nose clean and didn't get into trouble. Honestly most of her experience came when she tried to cheer Albert up whenever he got in trouble. She loved the little guy but he had a mischievous streak a mile wide.

And now she was here again, except this time it was for her kid and not her brother.

Cindy crossed one leg over the other and kept her expression neutral as she looked Principal Davis in the eye. He was an older man who was a little more on the rotund side. His short, cropped hair and mustache was streaked white and the brown eyes underneath his spectacles were narrowed. She couldn't tell if he was trying to glare at her or trying not to wet himself.

"Yes, Ms...Moon." He coughed and broke eye contact to look down the papers on his desk, "According to her papers Ms. Pryde is under the care of her older sister Katherine and yet when we attempted to contact her she didn't respond and Ms. Pryde insisted we call your number instead."

"Yeah, I kinda got that. Shadowcat's usually out of town most days so that's probably why you couldn't contact her," She shrugged lightly, "I'm here now, though. Laura's in trouble, you said?" Something about her punching another kid in the face. Knowing Laura she probably had a real good reason for it. Or maybe he tried to feed her veggies. Either or.

"Before that I must ask what your relationship is with her. When we questioned her when she gave us your contact information she called you her...mother. I'm assuming this isn't a direct biological tie?"

"It's...complicated. Like I said Kat's mostly out of town so I watch out for Laura when I can." Cause they sure as hell couldn't get any normal babysitter. Something told her Nanny McPhee didn't exist in this universe even though Santa Clause did (thanks for the heads up on that, Pete), "As for Laura calling me mom...well, she's been calling me that for months now and I don't see what's wrong with it. It's not illegal, right?"

"No, I suppose not. We'll just note you as a friend of the family for record keeping sake." He sighed.

"You still haven't told me what she did except punching somebody. Was this kid just minding his own business and Laura punched him? Cause that's not how she is."

"According to Ms. Pryde and Ms. Lee the boy, Mr. Toynbee, had been bullying the latter and Ms. Pryde punched him in retalation."

"What kind of bullying are we talking about here?"

"All I know is that Ms. Pryde was the one who escalated it to physical violence." So he didn't know anything. Why was she not surprised? Grade school, high school, didn't change anything. Pete didn't have much luck either before that night at prom, "Regardless of what he was doing she should've gone to one of the teachers rather than turning it into a physical altercation."

"Uh-huh. So, what's this Toynbee kid's punishment for bullying another kid?"

"That will come after this."

"Right, so you called me here to tell me about this. Great. I'll talk to Laura later about how she's not allowed to hit people."

"There's another thing we must discuss."

"Is something wrong?"

"Ms. Moon, you are an Avenger." He looked at her flatly, "While I appreciate everything you've done you can't be so naive as to think that you showing up for a Parent Teacher meeting wouldn't draw attention."

"Yeah..." Most of the parents and kids waiting in line outside didn't stop staring as soon as she walked in and she even caught a few disparaging comments from some of the moms. Price to pay for having an open identity, "But why does me being an Avenger matter here? Unless this school's some kind of Supervillain lair me being one doesn't change anything."

"Exactly what kind of child calls an Avenger mom and has direct access to her number?" He removed his glasses and wiped them down. Never a good sign, "I'll be frank with you, Ms. Moon. We had our doubts about admitting Ms. Pryde but it seems her older sister had some connections and pulled a few favors to get her in."

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

"It's an open secret what Ms. Pryde is." Cindy's hands clenched. 'What' she was...like she wasn't human or something, "She was with you and a few others during the incident a year prior. She's one of the Gifted."

"Still not seeing where you're going with this."

"I'm not certain if you're aware of this, but some of the parents have filed numerous complaints about Ms. Pryde's presence here." Well, that explained some of the comments she got outside, "They're worried about their children's safety and this incident today only exacerbates those concerns."

"There's nothing I can do about that. Last I checked I'm not on the PTA." Not that she'd get into it even if she could. She'd seen enough horror stories from when she was still in grade school to know it was full of helicopter parents and wannabe leaders who wanted to feel important.

"Yes, but it does still concern you." He put the glasses back on, "While I would like to assuage these parents' concerns the fact of the matter is that Ms. Pryde's presence here is highly unorthodox. It doesn't take more than a simple internet search to see what she's capable of and many are justifiably concerned what would happen if she lost her temper."

"Well what are you gonna do, kick her out? She hasn't done anything to be expelled! Unless you're seriously gonna tell me punching someone is grounds for immediate expulsion?"

"For the average child? No. For some like Ms. Pryde-"

"She's a kid!" Cindy stood up and glared down at the seated principal, "Just because she's different doesn't mean she should-"

"She has claws coming out of her hands, Ms. Moon." He looked up at her without any hesitation, "This isn't a matter of race or skin condition or whatever else you might consider discrimination. Ms. Pryde - Laura - has the potential for danger none of the other children are capable of. Would you be comfortable with your children attending class with a child in possession of blades or a firearm?"

"That's different. Laura didn't have a choice with those."

"I am well aware, and it must be said that she didn't use said claws in today's altercation, but the  _potential_  is there. If a child brought a loaded gun into school would we let them keep it simply on the basis that we trust them not to use it?"

"That's..."

"I'm not unreasonable, Ms. Moon. I understand that Laura's...condition is not her fault any more than we can choose our genetics. However, I also understand the worries of the parents who aren't comfortable placing their children in close proximity to someone with the potential for such danger. If her abilities were purely something minor then this wouldn't be an issue, but it's not. Her helping you in last year's incident proves such."

Cindy sat back down and sighed. As much as she wanted to cry foul or call discrimination the guy had a point. It wasn't Laura's fault those bastards turned her into a Weapon but she couldn't deny that if she ever got a kid (which was seeming less likely by the way) she wouldn't exactly like the idea of another kid pointing a gun at their face even if the safety was on.

"Look, I get it, but Laura's been here for almost a year and she hasn't done anything wrong. You're not seriously going to expel her, right?"

"No, until she's given us due reason we cannot expel her. Assuming we did I expect that any decent lawyer would tear us apart for unlawful expulsion. However, I do think it was prudent to warn you of the current goings on considering are her 'mother'. My advice? Tell Laura to keep her head down and be careful about drawing attention to herself. Having an Avenger as a close family friend can only get her so far."

Cindy sighed again and walked out of the room. Laura looked up from the nearby bench with those big, puppy dog eyes of hers, "Come on, kiddo." She smiled slightly and grabbed Laura's shoulder to lead her out.

And of course the whispers started again.

"What's she doing here?"

"Is she that girl's mother?"

"Is it safe for her to be here?"

"I bet she's not going to be punished because of her."

Cindy grit her teeth and kept steering Laura to the door. Most people liked the Avengers just fine, but there were still a few that had their reservations. Maybe they were jealous, maybe they were scared, or maybe they just didn't like anyone that had something they couldn't have. Either way she'd dealt with them ever since she got here. Masters was just the tip of the iceberg.

They were almost to the exit when they got intercepted, _'Oh, god damn it...'_ She plastered a smile on her face when Mrs. Toynbee blocked their way. She wasn't that old, probably just a scant few years ahead of Cindy herself, but the soccer mom haircut and getup added a lot more. Cindy suddenly felt even more out of place here, and it wasn't just because she still got carded just a few weeks ago.

"What?" Despite Cindy's attempt at smile the words came out far more hostile than she intended.

"You need to control your little freak. She hurt my son!" She gestured to the little boy who clung to her legs who, in absolute fairness, was sporting a bruise on his right eye. She almost felt sorry for him.

She didn't feel sorry for his witch of a mom, though.

"Freak? Step off you b-"

"He deserved it." Laura cut in, "He insulted Jubilee that she had no parents and it was because they didn't want her. He made her cry."

"That doesn't give you the right to hurt him!"

"Then maybe you should raise your son better so he doesn't go around bullying people!" Cindy snapped back. An argument was the last thing she needed right now, but she'd be damned if she was going to let some soccer mom talk down to Laura, "I'll admit Laura should've gone to the teacher, but your little brat isn't an angel here either!"

"Oh what do you know? You're not even that little freak's mother!"

Cindy's eyes narrowed dangerously while Laura flinched, "Turn around and walk away."

"What? You-"

"Turn around and  _Walk. Away._ "

The woman sputtered a few more garbled sentences before she finally decided that pissing off the woman who toss her down the next few blocks was a bad idea. Cindy grabbed Laura and led her out. She already heard some of the parents whispering behind her. She could see the headlines now: "Avenger threatens concerned mother" or whatever else would get the most papers sold.

Shaking her head, she kept walking till they were stopped again near the school exit, "You're Spinerette, right?" A little girl asked, eyes wide with wonder.

"Ah...yeah." She was always weak to kids. Probably had something to do with having a little brother.

"Cool!" And suddenly she was surrounded by kids, all of them trying to talk over one another. Asking for stories, asking for autographs, asking the things kids always asked when they met their heroes. She didn't know what weirded her out more - the suspicion of the parents or the blind trust of the kids.

"Did you really fight Red Skull?" A little boy asked.

"It was mostly Cap, but I helped."

"Ooh, ooh! What was it like fighting the Skrull Queen?"

"Well that was me and Spider-Woman, but really the entire Initiative helped out there."

One year later and she still wasn't used to this. She wasn't like Gwen or She-Hulk. Sure she made the occasional appearance in some charity shows when they really needed her, but she mostly kept to herself and focused on the work part of hero work. Right now she desperately wished that Gwen was here so she could take her place. She was always the better showwoman between the two of them.

Laura suddenly tugged at her left hand. Cindy looked down and found the little girl looking away, her expression unreadable, "...Okay, kids, we really go." A few of them pouted. Cindy did her utter best not to give in and walked away with Laura in tow, the latter holding onto her hand tightly.

They stopped at a family restaurant nearby. Cindy made sure to put up the hood of her jacket before they got inside; last thing they needed was another crowd. She ordered them some pancakes (Laura's favorite) and they sat in the corner booth.

"...Are you mad?" Laura asked, picking at her pancakes without looking up at her.

"No. I mean I do think that you should've gone to the teacher, but from what you've told me about that kid he was kinda asking for it. Just..." She exhaled slowly, "Laura, people know who you are. You and Kat never hid your faces behind masks."

"We are not Superheroes."

"Heroes aren't the only ones who wear masks." As Jameson and every naysayer was so quick to remind them. They had a point there, "Point is that those kids and their parents know who you are."

"They are scared of me." She didn't sound hurt. More like stating a fact, "They think that I will hurt their children."

"Yes." With Laura being honest was always the best choice. She would argue and snarl and fight back but she always understood.

"...Do I have to leave school?"

"No, definitely not. That'd lead to a lawsuit and I'm pretty sure that guy knows when to cut his losses."

"Good. I didn't want to." She finally looked up to meet her gaze, "I like school. I am not normal, and I don't think I want to be, but being with my friends is...fun. Jubilee thinks my claws are cool and Warren is always excited when he talks to us about his favorite heroes. I will miss them if I have to leave."

"Laura, you need to keep your head down. I know that you were just defending your friend-"

"He made Jubilee cry. I'm not sorry."

"I know you're not. It doesn't change the fact that punching other kids in the face is going to make people antsy." Cindy rubbed her forehead and frowned. She really did take after her dad and Kat, "Sometimes we have to do things we don't like so we can keep doing the things we do like. Do you get me?"

"So...I shouldn't punch bullies?"

"No, you shouldn't punch bullies. You go to the teacher and you tell them. If they don't do anything then scream louder till you can't be ignored."

"What if they hit me first?"

"Oh, then that's fair game. Go for the throat." Hey, just cause she wanted her to follow the rules didn't mean she had to be stupid about it, "All I'm saying is you can't just be like Shadowcat and hit people you don't like. There are rules, and like it or not we have to follow them."

"Do you follow them?"

"Why do you think I'm working as Spider-Cop?" Well, besides believing in Truth, Justice and the American way.

"Mmm..." Laura poked at her pancakes. She still hadn't taken a bite, "That woman...she said you weren't my mother."

"Hey, that's-"

"I understand that you aren't. The only one I share biological ties with is Shadowcat, and only on the paternal side. Dad has Felicity and Gene. But..." She chewed on her lower lip, "I like having a family. Back in the facility it was just me, the machine men and Kinney. Me and Shadowcat argue sometimes, but I still like being here."

"...I spent 10 years trapped in a bunker." Laura blinked up at her and silently urged her to continue. She'd never actually told Laura about her past. Didn't think it mattered, "My family died before I got put in there and I spent 10 years by myself. I know seem like I'm in control a lot of the time, but honestly? I'm scared. Sometimes I wonder if this is just some dream and I'm still stuck down there. Alone."

She'd never admit it to the others, but she still had nightmares sometimes. Being with the others - Pete, Gwen, Lana - helped a lot. Reminded her that she wasn't alone.

"Should I stop calling you mom?"

"No, I'm fine with it. I just...honestly I never thought I'd ever be called that. Haven't thought about kids considering how my life ended up." She took a sip of her coffee and her next words came out slow and measured, "Speaking of kids, how's your new tagalong?"

Laura's eyes widened and she looked like she was about to bolt out of there right that second, "What are you talking about?"

"Just a guess. I heard that Spider-Woman's new family member nearly got stolen a couple of days ago. It's possible the thief took it, but I'm guessing that it's not that simple." She leaned forward, "Is there something you wanna tell me?"

Laura bit her lip and, after a few seconds of silence, a pink, snake-like thing jutted out of her shoulder. Thank god the booth was private,  _"How did you know?"_

"Took a guess. Wasp's actually pretty suspicious of you too. " She set her cup of coffee down, "Considering how Spider-Woman got her own tagalong it wasn't hard to imagine that their kid did the same thing."

_"I didn't want the bad man to take me and Laura's really good at fighting! I thought I could help her!"_ She didn't know if it was cute or creepy that the symbiote sounded exactly like Laura, reverb aside.

"Does Shadowcat know?"

"No, I did not tell her." Laura shook her head, "Chocolate only talked to me after we got home. She told me how she was scared and attached to me in case I needed help."

"And you didn't tell Kat or Wasp because?"

_"Because they'd put me back in the box!"_ Chocolate (seriously, it needed a new name) said,  _"It's so boring there! I want to explore and be a hero like mom and parent but they're too worried about me!"_

"Considering you almost got stolen a couple days ago, I think they have a point."

_"But if they put me in the box then someone else will try to take me! With Laura we can defend ourselves!"_

"Alright, I can kinda see your point there, but do you have any idea how worried Gwen and her tagalong are?" Chocolate looked away guiltily while Laura rubbed its head, "And you, Laura. I'm surprised that you went along with this."

"She was lonely. I know what it's like to be alone."

"Ugh, tug on the heartstrings, why don't you?" Cindy sighed and leaned back to get a better look at her, "Laura, do you realize what this is? It's not just the kid hitching a ride with you. This relationship is a bond, a permanent one if we don't separate you two. Are you fine with her knowing everything you do, everything you think about?"

"We understand each other. I see her thoughts and she sees mine. She is...happy, and she makes me happy." It nuzzled against her cheek.

"Alright, seriously, you two are gonna give me diabetes." Cindy didn't know whether to laugh or groan, "We can discuss this more later. You two? We're gonna tell Spider-Woman the truth."

_"But-"_

"You are way too young to be in your rebellious phase! Your mom's been worried sick, especially since Pete went and started playing undercover Spider. We're talking to her tonight and that's final."

_"But what if they put me back in the box?"_

"She won't if you both convince her why this is the best option for everyone." She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. Honestly, why was she always the one who got stuck with this? She was busy enough as it was without having to worry about Gwen's kid or Lana's friend on top of it, "Being partners isn't as simple as you two might think. You need as much help as you can and Spider-Woman's the only one who can give it."

Laura chewed on her bottom lip and nodded, "...Fine, we will talk to her."

_"Mom and parent are gonna be so mad at me..."_

"Definitely. I mean, what do you expect when you disappear without a word? She probably thinks you're being experimented on by some mad scientist or something."

_"...I'm sorry for getting in trouble, Laura."_

"I'm fine."

"I'm taking another guess here, but did your new friend tell you to punch that kid in the face?"

"No, she told me not to." Well, that didn't go how she thought it would, "She said that we should separate them but try not to hurt anyone unless they hit first. That's what heroes are supposed to do."

_"You're supposed to give them a chance to give up unless they're already attacking someone. That's what mom always does!"_

"Great, this is more complicated than I thought." Cindy clicked her tongue, "Just finish up your food so we can talk to Spider-Woman. I need a drink..."

* * *

**ArkT:** Went with my dad to watch over sis during PTC and ran into  **Spinerette -embedded image-**

**Noisy-Cricket:**  What the hell was she doing there? Last I checked she didn't have a kid.

**ArkT:**  Dunno, but she was there to pick up some girl named Laura.

**WorthingtonLineage:**  My little brother talks about her all the time. Apparently she's one of the Gifted and she even helped Spider-Woman and the others fight this dimension's  **Cindy Moon**. Little girl with the claws.

**ThatGeekyGuy:** Yeah my mom's pretty worried about her being there. Thinks that she's a risk to the other kids.

**Noisy-Cricket:**  Helps save the city and people are scared of her. Sounds about right.

**usernamesarebullshit:**  Dude if I had a kid I wouldn't want em near a kid who could shank em in the face if she gets pissed.

**Lolrus555:**  I'm more confused on what the relationship is between her and Spinerette.

**ArkT:**  That Laura kid called her mom but I'm pretty sure they're not related. Girl looks pretty caucasian to me.

**HahaHoho:**  Shame, thought Spinerette could add MILF to her list of accomplishments.

**Spinerette:**  I will find you and I will hurt you.

**HahaHoho:**  Promise? ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I debated on whether I should've had Laura and Chocolate's first meeting be written down or gloss over it. I decided on the latter since I already did Gwen and MJ's meetings and Laura's would've just been a repeat of Gwen's. I'll write it later if you guys want it but so far I'm fine with this.
> 
> Anyway, Noir's currently in the brainwashing facility while Cindy's dealing with her kid and Gwen's kid having a pow-wow. Next chapter will be the Roxxon date and the talk with Laura about her new partnership.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Do you guys want to have filler/character driven chapters again? While I did get some complaints about how V1 was unfocused others liked those chapters as well due to the focus on character interactions over antagonists. There are some cut arcs I could include here like Kraven (Noir and Punisher focus), Tombstone (MJ, Noir and Norah focus), Morbius (Gwen, Jessica and Wasp focus), Hellfire Club/Emma Frost (Male Defenders focus), Gang War (Defenders and Avengers team up) etc etc.
> 
> There are also some not so serious segments I could put in, particularly a Guys Night Out chapter where Iron Fist drags Moon Knight, Noir and Matt to a bar in his attempt to make them all bond as a team. It fails. Badly. I could also do some ESU focus segments with Noir attending classes and dealing with the curriculum and the insanity of college life.
> 
> 2\. If you guys could change the characterization of a single character here, who and how would it be? 
> 
> 3\. Seems like Matt/MJ is the winner of the last poll. Wonder if you guys expect this to legitimately work out in the end or you're just voting for the biggest trainwreck.

**Author's Note:**

> A bit shorter than my usual, but felt appropriate since this was the beginning. Anyway, we've got our new status quo: Gwen's still a big time Avenger, Cindy's been slotted into law enforcement as a special aid, Lana's juggling school life and being a an Initiative Hero and Noir's back to get rid of the last of the Hand.
> 
> Speaking of the Hand, we have the returning character of Matt Murdock, now known as the Daredevil. I know some people are annoyed that he's back given how much spotlight he took last time, but I'm hoping that without the Beast and his insane plot armor he can stand on more equal ground with the rest of the cast.
> 
> Anyway, a short version of the stuff that happened in the timeskip - Avengers disabled HYDRA; SHIELD was disbanded (except not really); the 50 States Initiative kicked off so there are heroes in every state now; the Terrigen Mist came down over New York (but no Inhuman royal family, at least so far; The Skrulls tried to invade and got their butts handed to them; and the Asgardians arrived and settled at Cleveland after Ragnarok happened.
> 
> Next chapter might take a bit longer than the last, so hopefully this one was enjoyable :)
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1\. Who should be Noir's roommate? Gwen is the only one to make an offer this chapter but there are other options available. The choices are: Cindy Moon, Gwen Stacy, Norah Winters...and Matt Murdock.
> 
> The tone differs dependent on who he's staying with. Cindy's will focus more on plot and crime, Gwen on lighthearted stuff and romance, Norah on humor and friendship and Matt...well, not sure, but I'm pretty sure it's gonna be ugly.
> 
> Lana was going to be a choice as well but I cut her out since one of her themes is independence. MJ as well was going to be a choice over Norah but Gwen would probably veto that hard. Matt might have killed Peter once, but he definitely didn't say he wanted both him and Gwen at the same time like MJ has.
> 
> ...Five bucks says Matt will win this vote, though.
> 
> 2\. For all my old readers, a question: does this story still 'feel' like Earth-65? I've gotten reviews (positively) saying that this world is basically an original one with Earth-65 as a base. I'm curious if others feel the same.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Three MJ’s and Two Babies – A Two Spiders on a Web/Madhouse Blues Omake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18410264) by [Nerdman3000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdman3000/pseuds/Nerdman3000), [Vendetta543](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vendetta543/pseuds/Vendetta543)




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